This is one of those places where history does not only weave its way through the walls, but also pauses to remember great scientists and their works. Perched on the foundations of a long-gone convent owned by the Augustinian Mendicant Order back in 1678, today's National Museum of Science History makes a perfect blend of building, documents, furniture and art with time's three dimensions.

For nearly a century since 1868, the edifice housed the Royal Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of Havana. Cuba's first scientific books and records are carefully preserved there. The very first of those books –The Art of Sailing- was written in Cuba by Seville-born physician Lazaro de Flores and edited in Spain in 1673. The second book –Different Pieces of Natural History by Antonio Parra, an outstanding Portuguese scientist who settled down on the island- was the first ever written and published in Cuba in 1787.

Different Halls There are two halls that meet the eye. One of them, apart from treasuring a valuable bibliography of over 50,000 documents from the 16th century to date, is still used as a consultation hall. This is no other than the neoclassical Trelles Hall. The other room is a small library. Both foyers affect furniture made of dark precious wood and outfitted with drawer chests, wickets, comfortable big chairs and huge tables sporting the unmistakable colors of ebony and cedar.

The Royal Academy Hall is a key hallway that served as dais for Cuban scientist Carlos Juan Finlay to stand up for his theory on yellow fever infection caused by the aedes aegiptis mosquito in 1871. The place boasts some of Finlay's belongings and objects that were used by other Cuban and foreign sages. Turned into a museum in 1962, its nine rooms and three hallways stand for a sanctuary to the cult of sciences. The interiors are decorated with oleos, numerous busts and sculptures carved in an assortment of materials.

One of its must-sees is no doubt the circular Assembly Hall and its array of Gothic arches and sober pews. The story goes that Albert Einstein, following the delivery of a lecture there in 1930 during his brief stay in Havana, said he was pleased by having such an illustrated audience and by the splendor of the space.

On your way out of this place packed with so many contemplative emotions, a breathtaking collection of porcelain, silver and glassware pharmaceutical flasks from the 18th and 19th centuries shape up a hall devoted to the making of drugs and medications. Furniture is another eye-catching element that speaks volumes of the place's magnificence. The 1893 International Exposition in Chicago awarded a gold medal to the San Jose Drugstore there. Today, the public continues giving the museum two enthusiastic thumbs up for being both a keeper of historic treasures and a sanctuary to Cuban sciences.