Deteriorated though much of it is, what might be the most surprising thing to travelers about Cuba´s capital - still the most beautiful in the Caribbean - is how well-rounded it also is. Especially culturally, with restaurants, cafés, shops and ubiquitous music joined by high-quality museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts, with international as well as Cuban works, divided between a modern facility and the magnificent late-19th-century Centro Asturiano (Asturian social club); the Museum of the City, showcasing colonial history; the Museum of Decorative Arts, showcasing the lifestyles of the wealthy before the Cuban Revolution of 1959; the Museum of Colonial Art; the Museum of the Revolution, charting the roots of contemporary Communist Cuba (more about that below); and even a Napoleon Museum, based on the private collection of Napoleonic artifacts by a 19th-century sugar planter.
Old Havana
Ground zero for visitors is of course Habana La Vieja (Old Havana), the city´s (mostly) restored historic core along the bay, with various gracious squares, cobblestone streets, a crafts market, and numerous restaurants, cafés, hotels, music venues, and more. People also still live here, of course, although the streets on which they live still exhibit the shabbiness and deterioration characteristic of much of the island these days.Anyway, here are five spots not to miss in Old Havana:
Plaza Vieja
Lined by brightly colored Baroque as well as Art Nouveau-style buildings, this cobblestone-paved square dating to 1559 (top) has had many uses over the centuries - as a military drill ground, an open-air market, a park, a venue for parades and festivities, even at one point a parking lot. These days it´s home to restaurants, art galleries, and a camera obscura. whose rotating periscope and series of mirrors projects live, panoramic views of Old Havana onto a large, table-like viewing screen.
Plaza de Armas
Leafy "Arms Square" is Havana´s oldest - built in the 1520s - was designed as the home of the colonial government and military, with its main building the Palace of the Captains General (above left), now home to the Museum of the City. Other notable structures include the compact Castillo de la Real Fuerza, considered the oldest stone fort in the Americas; El Templete, a neoclassical 1827 monument to the first Christian mass said in the newly founded colony, in 1519 (and in front of it is a famous ceiba - silk floss tree - under which said mass was celebrated, sacred to the island´s Afro-Cuban santería religion, which holds that walking around it three times brings luch and prosperity); the Hotel Santa Isabel; and La Mina restaurant. And in the middle of it all is a small park usually ringed by booksellers. (Fun fact: the street directly in front of the palace is paved with wood rather than stone, so as to muffle the sounds of horses and carriages that might disturb the delicate ears of the colonial captains general aka governors and their families.)
Plaza de la Catedral
The smallest of Old Havana´s historic main squares, dating back to the construction of the eponymous cathedral in the 18th century. Built with coral stone, this singular Baroque church which was once described by a Cervantes-Prize-winning writer as "music that was turned in stone." It became a fashionable place to live, and elegant townhouses went up around the square. One of them houses the restaurant El Patio, and another is the city´s oldest surviving building, the Palacio de los Condes de Casa Bayona, built by the island´s governor in 1720 and today home to the Museum of Colonial Art. The square can get overrun on days when cruise ships dock, so a good strategy in that case is to go in late afternoon, early evening, or at night (when, lit up, it´s also extremely atmospheric).
El Morro and La Cabaña Fortresses
Just across the harbor (and reachable by cab through a tunnel), the Castle of the Three Kings of the Rock (above) was built in 1589 and it´s impressive to explore its ramparts and evocative interior chambers - along with a superb view out over Old Havana and beyond. A five-minute walk away, the rather more sprawling Fortress of San Carlos of the Cabin (in fact the third largest in the Americas) was constructed to supplement the city´s defense between 1763 and 1774, and after the 1959 revolution became notorious as the headquarters of Che Guevara and the site of "revolutionaruy tribunals," torture, and executions. Today its various spaces are home to exhibitions of military history, and visitors make a point of showing up every night at 9 pm for the cañonazo ("firing" of a vintage cannon - without a real cannonball, of course - by actors in period uniforms). And of course the views across the harbor over Havana are tremendous.
Museum of the Revolution
Housed in the former presidential palace, built in 1920, it documents (from the régime´s point of view, of course), the history of the revolution of 1959 and its aftermath with documents, photos, and artifacts such as bloodstained clothing of the casualties from the Castro guerrillas´ failed 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba and maps utilized for movements during the campaign (most of the exhibits, however, are labeled only in Spanish). There are also sections dedicated to the 1895-1898 war of independence from Spain as well as to Che Guevara and the Castro brothers, and out back are various planes, rockets, and vehicles connected to the revolution, including a replica of the iconic yacht Granma, the boat which brought the Castros and confederates from exile in Mexico to Cuba in 1956. Apart from all that, the building´s opulent architecture and interiors also impress, including a hall of mirrors inspired by that of the Palace of Versailles.
Beyond Old Havana
The Malecón
For visitors, Old Havana may be where it's at, but for Cubans the city's heart and soul lie on this five/mile-long boulevard running along Havana Bay from the mouth of the harbor through Centro Habana and out to the mouth of the Almendares River in the El Vedado district. It´s a popular gathering spot for all ages (and fair warning: foreign men may be approached by prostitutes along here). Many of the building facades are derelict or at the very least worn thanks to the stress of being exposed to the sea while not receiving much in the way of maintenance and upkeep. There are also several notable landmarks along here, such as the Brutalist U.S. Embassy; the monument to the 266 U.S. sailors who lost their lives in the murky sinking of the USS Maine sailing ship, which was used as a pretext to start the Spanish-American War in 1898; another small defensive fortress, the late-16th-century Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta (housing a museum): the historic, iconic Hotel Nacional (on a low bluff above the Malecón); and the grand 1916 bronze monument to Antonio Maceo, a lionized hero of the war of independence.
Day Trip to Finca Vigía
Ernest Hemingway resided in and around Havana for 22 years, most of them at "Lookout Farm," a 20-minute drive from the city, with his wife Martha Gellhorn and numerous pets, until it was expropriated by the Communist government in 1960. Here Papa did much of his writing, particularly of The Old Man and the Sea, and he was also was well-known for hosting a variety of VIPs including Hollywood celebrities, diplomats, and writers. Visitors aren't permitted to enter his home for preservation reasons can get good view through doors and windows. It´s remarkably well preserved, and feels very much like it would have back in the day.
Sound appealing? Book your cheap flight to Havana soon!
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