Inaugurated in 1959 as the Plaza Cívica and renamed Plaza de la Revolución after the eponymous Revolution swept away the old order at the end of that year, this 4.5 hectares (11 acres) of expanse (above) has packed in more than a million for many of Communist Cuba's mass events (as well as huge crowds for masses by visiting popes Francis and John Paul II). It's dominated by a 109-metre (358-foot) tower on the north side honouring the Republic of Cuba's main national hero José Martí, depicted in a seated statue 18 m (59 ft.) tall. Across the square is the national interior ministry with its iconic steel-cutout mural of Communist hero Che Guevara, right next door to the Telecommunications Building with a similar homage to revolutionary Camilo Cienfuegos; other landmarks ringing the plaza include the National Library and the Palacio de la Revolución, housing Cuba's parliament (by the way, for some smokin' live music and packed LGBT Fridays, don't miss the basement club Café Cantante Mi Habana, just off the square's northeast corner).

Read more in our post Havana´s Gracious Vedado District.

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