When one thinks of Cuba, one often thinks mostly of Old Havana. But Havana is more than Old Havana’s lovely Spanish Colonial buildings. Central Havana is dominated by huge, beautiful—but often very neglected—Neo-Classical public buildings. Built just outside the old city walls, it is a major thoroughfare and a popular strolling and shopping area for locals. This blogs explores the amazing sights and buildings of the area.

Paseo del Prado

Paseo del Prado is a lovely, balustrade walkway between the two directions of boulevard traffic. One enters it between fearsome, sculpted bronze lions and elegant wrought-iron lampposts. We last strolled this area in 2012. The Cuban economy was just beginning to open, and this was where hundreds of locals lined the walkways looking to buy or sell homes or cars. Today it is occupied primarily by artists looking to sell their wares to visitors. The boulevard is lined with a wide range of buildings, from the magnificent Capitol building and Gran Theater to commercial and residential style of all styles, including a surprising number with Morrish inspired designs.

 

Central Park

This square is at the intersection of Calle Obispo, Old Havana’s major street and The Prada, Central Havana’s large, divided boulevard. The streets surrounding the park were built around a statue of Jose Marti It is ground zero for hundreds of beautifully restored classic car taxis that wait patiently for visitors to retain their services. Although they are available for standard point-to-point fares, they are primarily retained for driving tours of the city; tours that can last for between an hour and a full day. While we saw many of these old cars on our 2012 trip to Cuba, we were amazed at how many more there were and how many were now convertibles.

At least as important as the cars are the many impressive public buildings that are located around, or within a couple blocks of the square. Among these are:

• The Capitol. This impressive, Neo-Classical dome-based building is loosely modeled on the U.S. Capitol, only taller. Built in the early 20^th century, it served as the center of government from 1929 to the 1959 Communist takeover. After more than 50 years of neglect, it is now being renovated and will eventually resume its traditional role as the seat of government.

• Gran Theater. First opened in 1915, it has recently undergone a complete restoration and is one of the world’s largest opera houses. Although we did not attend a performance (and thus, did not see the interior) of the recently renovated building, the exterior is nothing short of spectacular; covered with majestic, hand-carved sculptural facades that depict music, theater, education and charity.

• Hotel Inglaterra, a late 19^th century (1875 to be precise) hotel whose vaguely Neo-Classical exterior belies its generally Moorish interior. We, along with most of the city’s other visitors, spent hours on the front patio, nursing our mojitos, while listening to Cuban music.

• Museum of the Revolution. As its name suggests, the museum is dedicated to the history and the glories of the Cuban revolutions. It is located in an ornate, 1920 building that used to be the Presidential Palace from which a line of dictators (culminating in Batista) had ruled the country before the revolution. It is graced with a Tiffany dome, monumental marble staircase, grand ballroom and reception hall. Although the museum is ostensibly covers both the Spanish and Communist revolutions, it is dedicated overwhelmingly to the later.
  • It profiles the ruthless tactics of the dictators, provides a detailed (somewhat stilted) portrayal of the entire revolution and has in-depth profiles of all the major revolutionary leaders. A connected building, is dedicated exclusively to a display of “Granma”, the yacht on which Castro (along with Che and about 80 of their followers) made the return to Cuba after Castro’s initial deportation to Mexico. Surround the building are mementos of the revolution (such as tractors that the guerrillas converted into tanks) and the Cold War, including Russian-supplied jets, anti-aircraft guns and missiles) and remnants (including a jet turbine) of a U.S. U-2 spy plane that was shot down over Cuba.
  • The entry lobby has humorous, life-sized political caricatures of Batista, Regan (wearing a cowboy hat), George H.W. Bush (wearing a Caesar-like crown) and George W. Bush (wearing a Nazi helmet and struggling to read an upside-down copy of a Cuban Communist manifesto.

• National Museum of Fine Arts, which we did not visit.
• City Wall remnants, of the 30-foot high wall (built between 1671 and 1797) that had encircled Old Havana until being torn down in 1863 to provide access to the rest of the rapidly growing city.