Dr. Berto Conde: The memories of Fidel's visit continue to beat in the Hospital of Sancti Spíritus

Cuba: Dr. Berto Conde – Memories of Fidel’s Visit Continue to Beat in the Hospital of Sancti Spíritus! (17.7.2026)

“He arrived in the morning, around 9 in the morning, here at the hospital, perhaps a little later. A tour was made and when we arrived at the front of the hospital, there in front of the Central Highway, there was a signpost with the name of the centre, Camino Cienfuegos provincial hospital, in front of where there is currently a CADECA facility there at the entrance of the hospital. He had covered himself with a white cloth and then symbolically removing that cloth left the hospital inaugurated. It was high and then even though the commander… Fidel Castro was a tall man, because he was not enough and there were the members of the board of directors and with our dear director, Dr. Pedro García Alfonso, whom I remember with so much affection, was his daughter, Coralita, who also died painfully for us. And then Fidel carries Coralita, lifts her up and the girl removes the sheet.

3D Reproduction of Royston Cave - Royston Council

UK: The Bell-Shaped “Royston Cave”! (17.7.2026)

The analysis found that the short male costumes and the headdresses and hairstyles of the women both point to a time between 1360-90, and the Saint Christopher carving was dated to the same era. The report concluded that it was unlikely that any of the carvings were executed before about 1350 – a century after the Templars were active in Royston, and decades after their widespread suppression. What’s more, the carvings feature Christian iconography, lacking the symbolism typically associated with the Templars – depictions of the Holy Sepulchre and Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, for example, or of two knights riding one horse.

Although the Knights Templar were known for building round churches, the circular shape of the cave does not necessitate a Templar link either – the greatest proliferation of round churches is in Scandinavia, where no Templars ever set foot. Nor is the presence of Pagan symbols such as the sheela na gig particularly mysterious; the same image appears in medieval churches across Britain and Europe.

Why, then, the supposed Templar connection? Perhaps the things that make for a good story now also made for a good story in 1742. “The risk here is people have been wanting to tell stories since day one: ‘Come and see the Templar cave!’,” said Tobit Curteis, the conservator of the cave. “Just because someone made up a story 300 years ago, it doesn’t mean it was any more true back then than it would be now.”