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The young José Martí spent 65 days in this room, recovering after having been in prison. The farm belonged to José María Sardá.
On October 26, 1868 the Catalan José María Sardá acquired in Isla de Pinos an estate of twelve caballerias of land worth 24 thousand silver escudos, it had magnificent natural conditions and a good geographical position. Sardá had created a system of sewers and aqueducts that by force of gravity lowered the water from the spring. The lands also had fields of corn, cotton, some tobacco and coffee, rice for the lomerí or although the best business was the rich quarries of pink marble, a lime kiln and a starch, brick and tile factory. The farm had 50 slaves and a score of political prisoners and deportees. Sardá had bought this farm to take care of the health of her son who was borrmatic and this climate would suit her. Located in Sierra Las Casas, a kilometer and a half from Nueva Gerona, capital of the then Colonia Reina Amalia, and gives it the name "El Abra", it is not well known whether alluding to the related geographical position or the word that in its The native language means tree, that is, Arbra. In the beautiful place with such a significant name, Sardá builds his family house formed by three independent architectural bodies that recall the features of the great Catalan estates called Macías. The Sardá Valdés family moved permanently to it in 1869. This constructive businessman, Master of Works graduated from the Professional School of Havana in 1865, executes contracts with the Spanish government in various works in the capital, including Plaza del Polvorín, Plaza Vieja, La cerca de la Quinta de los Molinos, among others.
At only 17 years old José Julián Martí Pérez, he is among the group of those who, from dawn to dusk, work tirelessly serving their respective sentences. In these circumstances José María Sardá knows him. The deplorable state of health of the young man brings to the meeting of the Catalan, the father of Martí, who asks him for help in the name of the friendship that exists between them, since the days when Mariano Martí served as a ship inspector in the port of Batabanó. Dramatic appeal that found echo in the heart of the owner that leads him to intercede for him with the authorities. The efforts of Sardá before the Captain General in person give rise to the commutation of the sentence of six years in prison for that of politically confined to Isla de Pinos and later the exile to Spain. Under his responsibility, the benefactor takes the young man and takes him to his house on the farm; where he remains 65 days until the proceedings for deportation to the peninsula are completed, a period that begins on October 13 and ends on December 18, 1870.
Loving care like those lavished on a son, was offered by Trinidad Valdés Amador, Sardá's wife, care that helps him recover part of his health and ignites in his heart the purest gratitude for her, which is witnessed by several presents and words : a letter, a crucifix sent from Spain and the dedication of a photograph. "Trina, I'm just sorry to have met you because of the sadness of having to part so soon." And in El Abra, he left his tracks forever; in the five children who saw him, Rosa, Juan, Catalina, José Regino, Domingo, in the kind-hearted Doña cubana who, in the three that were born to him later, Carmela, José Elías and Conchita, planted the brief and moving story of that young man in his house to whom he gave life for Cuba, a place with a geographical or Catalan name where memories are kept alive today and the descendants of those protagonists who preserved for the present and future generations the beautiful place where José Martí lived.
The Museum opened its doors on January 28, 1944, the collection was made up of the furniture of the house, donated by the descendants of the Sardá family, consisting of the bed, the clothes closet, an oil lamp, a pylon of wood and a lock with its key, to which were joined the two oil paintings of Martí and Sardá, painted by Enrique Caravia and Domingo Ravenet.
This architectural construction is unique of its kind in the country, called “Las Masías”. It is a building with a Catalan constructive culture that is made up of three elements: a kitchen-dining room in the center and two blocks of rooms on both sides, it has two types of roof, one with wooden joists with Creole tiles and a second with roof of guano, in addition a garage and a barn to store the grains in time of scarcity. There are still vestiges of what were the barracks of the
Black slaves from Sardá, a small lime kiln and the pedestal in the patio that works as a sundial.
After the inauguration, in 1945, the collection was expanded with a substantial donation also made by the family who decided to deliver the most valuable objects.
They donated by means of a notarial act the bed sheet, the Sacred History books on the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, which were recurrent readings of the Apostle on his Sabbath days in El Abra and which keep in their margins the signature of Joseph María Sardá, as well as the wooden and bronze crucifix that José Martí sent Doña Trinidad from Spain, in expression of her gratitude for the care she gave her sick eyes and her sore and bleeding leg, other recorded support elements, crayon drawings depicting important moments in the life of José Martí, as well as didactics through marble slabs completed the exhibition. This exhibition introduced a museum guide who was an integral part of the historical relics.
This museum treasures a book of signatures where it reflects the passage of the Cubans who carry in their hearts the ideas of the teacher, example: Fidel Castro Ruz, Camilo Cienfuegos, Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, Antonio Núñez Jiménez, Alicia Alonso and a niece of the apostle.

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