Havana¹

 

(həvăn'ə) , Span. La Habana (lä ävä'nä), city (1997 est. pop. 2,200,000), capital of both Cuba and of Ciudad de la Habana prov., W Cuba; largest city and chief port of the West Indies and one of the oldest cities in the Americas. Havana is the political, economic, and cultural center of Cuba. An important hub of air and maritime transportation, it is the focal point of Cuban commerce, exporting sugar, tobacco, and fruits and importing mainly foodstuffs, cotton, and machinery and technical equipment. Industries include shipbuilding, assembly plants, rum distilleries, sugar refineries, and factories making the famous Havana cigars. Tourism has been greatly revived in the 1990s as Cuba redirects its economic model from central planning toward a mixed economy. The city's hot, humid climate is moderated by sea winds.

Havana possesses one of the best natural harbors in the Caribbean and has long been strategically and commercially important. The original settlement, called San Cristóbal de la Habana, was founded in 1515 by the Spanish explorer Diego de Velázquez on Cuba's southern coast but was relocated to the site of present-day Havana in 1519. Spanish treasure galleons assembled in Havana's harbor for their return voyage to Spain, and the city tempted many English, French, and Dutch buccaneers. It became the capital of Cuba in the late 16th cent. In 1762, during the French and Indian Wars, Havana fell to Anglo-American forces, but the following year it was returned to Spain in exchange for the Floridas. By the early 19th cent., the city ranked as one of the wealthiest and busiest commercial centers in the Western Hemisphere.

The blowing up of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana harbor in Feb., 1898, was the immediate cause of the Spanish-American War. U.S. troops occupying Havana in the wake of their victory there improved sanitary conditions and eliminated yellow fever from the city. Until 1959 the close political and economic relations between Cuba and the United States were strongly reflected in the commercial and cultural life of the city. After the Castro government took control, the U.S. presence in Havana was replaced by that of the Soviet Union, with which the Cuban government maintained close ties.

Castro's policy of directing economic resources toward rural areas resulted in the deterioration of Havana, particularly the old city, but restoration efforts began in the 1980s. The old city is dominated by Morro Castle and other fortresses and is also known for its narrow streets, numerous churches, and fine examples of colonial architecture. The modern section of the city has wide boulevards, impressive public buildings (notably the lavishly decorated capitol), and magnificent residences. Havana Univ. was founded in 1721. The city has many cultural facilities.

Havana La Habana
Havana skyline
Coat of arms
Nickname: Ciudad de las Columnas   (Spanish) " City of Columns "
Position of Havana in the Americas
Coordinates: 23°8′0″N 82°23′0″W / 23.13333, -82.38333
Country	Cuba
Province	Ciudad de La Habana
Municipalities	15
Founded	1515a
Government
- Mayor	Juan Contino Aslán
Area
- City	km²  ( sq mi)
Elevation	m ( ft)
Population (2005 est)
- City
- Density	/km² (/sq mi)
- Urban
- Metro
	est spc
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Postal code	10xxx-19xxx
Area code(s)	(+53) 7
a Founded on the present site was founded in 1519.

Havana (Spanish: La Habana, IPA:  /la a'βana/?) is the capital city, major port, and leading commercial center of Cuba. The city, under the name "Ciudad de La Habana" (City of Havana) province^[1], is one of the 14 Cuban provinces. The province has 2.3 million inhabitants, and the metropolitan area over 3 million, making Havana the largest city in both Cuba and the Caribbean region, ninth in Latin America.^[2] The province is both the smallest and the most populous in Cuba.

It is located just over  km ( mi) south-southwest of Key West, Florida^[3] on the northwest coast of Cuba, facing the Straits of Florida, and is surrounded by Havana Province (distinct from Ciudad de La Habana province) and the coast.

Havana, founded in 1515, is one of the oldest cities founded by Europeans in the Western Hemisphere.^[4] The city was protected by walls and fortificaions as it was often attacked by pirates and French corsairs.^[5] The sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana's harbor in 1898 was the immediate cause of the Spanish-American War.^[6] Old Havana and its fortifications are protected by UNESCO.^[7] Havana is the center of the Cuban government, and various ministries and headquarters of businesses are based there. Much of Cuba's industrial and service economy is based in Havana.

Etymology

(UN/LOCODE: CU HAV) La Habana, was founded and formerly named as Villa de San Cristóbal de la Habana by Diego Velásquez de Cuellar. The name Habana is seems to be based on the name of a local taíno chief Habaguanex. Habana may also be related to Middle Dutch, havene: port, but as Havana was not originally founded as a port this origin seems unprobable^[8].

Ciudad de La Habana: City of Havana (considered a province, despite its name). In common usage, La Habana is translated when it refers to the city (Havana in Dutch, English, and Portuguese; La Havane in French; L'Avana in Italian; Havanna in German), but not when it refers to either of the provinces.

History

The founding of Havana

The current Havana area and its natural bay were first visited by Europeans during Sebastián de Ocampo's circumnavigation of the island, in 1509.^[9] Shortly thereafter, in 1510, the first Spanish colonists arrived from La Hispaniola and thus the Conquest of Cuba began.

Conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar founded Havana on August 25, 1515 on the southern coast of the island, near the present town of Surgidero de Batabanó. Between 1514 and 1519, the city had at least two different establishments. All attempts to found a city on Cuba's south coast failed. The city's location was adjacent to a superb harbor at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, and with easy access to the Gulf Stream, the main ocean current that navigators followed when traveling from the Americas to Europe. This location led to Havana’s early development as the principal port of Spain's New World colonies. An early map of Cuba drawn in 1514 places the town at the mouth of the river Onicaxinal, also on the south coast of Cuba. Another establishment was La Chorrera, today in the neighbourhood of Puentes Grandes, next to the Almendares River.

The final establishment, commemorated by El Templete, was the sixth town founded by the Spanish on the island, called San Cristobal de la Habana by Pánfilo de Narváez: the name combines San Cristóbal, patron saint of Havana, and Habana, of obscure origin, possibly derived from Habaguanex, an Indian chief who controlled that area, as mentioned by Diego Velasquez in his report to the king of Spain. A legend relates that Habana was the name of Habaguanex's beautiful daughter,^[10] but no known historical source corroborates this version.

Havana moved to its current location next to what was then called Puerto de Carenas (literally, "Careening Bay"), in 1519. The quality of this natural bay, which now hosts Havana's harbor, warranted this change of location. Bartolomé de las Casas wrote:

...one of the ships, or both, had the need of careening, which is to renew or mend the parts that travel under the water, and to put tar and wax in them, and entered the port we now call Havana, and there they careened so the port was called de Carenas. This bay is very good and can host many ships, which I visited few years after the Discovery... few are in Spain, or elsewhere in the world, that are their equal...^[9]

Shortly after the founding of Cuba's first cities, the island served as little more than a base for the Conquista of other lands. Hernán Cortés organized his expedition to Mexico from here. Cuba, during the first years of the Discovery, provided no immediate wealth to the conquistadores, as it was poor in gold, silver and precious stones, and many of its settlers moved to the more promising lands of Mexico and South America that were being discovered and colonized at the time. The legends of Eldorado and the Seven Cities of Gold attracted many adventurers from Spain, and also from the adjacent colonies, leaving Havana and the rest of Cuba largely unpopulated.

Pirates and La Flota

Havana was originally a trading port, and suffered regular attacks by buccaneers, pirates, and French corsairs. The first attack and burning of the city was by the French corsair Jacques de Sores in 1555. The pirate took Havana easily, plundering the city and burning much of it to the ground. De Sores left without obtaining the enormous wealth he was hoping to find in Havana. Such attacks convinced the Spanish Crown to fund the construction of the first fortresses in the main cities — not only to counteract the pirates and corsairs, but also to exert more control over commerce with the West Indies, and to limit the extensive contrabando (black market) that had arisen due to the trade restrictions imposed by the Casa de Contratación of Seville (the crown-controlled trading house that held a monopoly on New World trade). To counteract pirate attacks on galleon convoys headed for Spain while loaded with New World treasures, the Spanish crown decided to protect its ships by concentrating them in one large fleet, that would traverse the Atlantic Ocean as a group. A single merchant fleet could more easily be protected by the Spanish Armada. Following a royal decree in 1561, all ships headed for Spain were required to assemble this fleet in the Havana Bay. Ships arrived from May through August, waiting for the best weather conditions, and together, the fleet departed Havana for Spain by September.

This naturally boosted commerce and development of the adjacent city of Havana (a humble villa at the time). Goods traded in Havana included gold, silver, alpaca wool from the Andes, emeralds from Colombia, mahoganies from Cuba and Guatemala, leather from the Guajira, spices, sticks of dye from Campeche, corn, manioc, and cocoa. Ships from all over the New World carried products first to Havana, in order to be taken by the fleet to Spain. The thousands of ships gathered in the city's bay also fueled Havana's agriculture and manufacture, since they had to be supplied with food, water, and other products needed to traverse the ocean. In 1563, the Capitán General (the Spanish Governor of the island) moved his residence from Santiago de Cuba to Havana, by reason of that city's newly gained wealth and importance, thus unofficially sanctioning its status as capital of the island. On December 20, 1592, King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City. Later on, the city would be officially designated as "Key to the New World and antemural of the West Indies" by the Spanish crown. In the meantime, efforts to build or improve the defensive infrastructures of the city continued. The San Salvador de la Punta castle guarded the west entrance of the bay, while the Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro guarded the eastern entrance. The Castillo de la Real Fuerza defended the city's center, and doubled as the Governor's residence until a more comfortable palace was built. Two other defensive towers, La Chorrera and San Lázaro were also built in this period.

17th-19th centuries

Havana expanded greatly in the 17th century. New buildings were constructed from the most abundant materials of the island, mainly wood, combining various Iberian architectural styles, as well as borrowing profusely from Canarian characteristics. During this period the city also built civic monuments and religious constructions, such as the Dome of the Rock and the Washington Monument, built to commemorate the dead of the First World War. The convent of St Augustin, El Morro Castle, the chapel of the Humilladero, the fountain of Dorotea de la Luna in La Chorrera, the church of the Holy Angel, the hospital of San Lazaro, the monastery of Santa Teresa and the convent of San Felipe Neri were all completed in this era.

In 1649 a fatal epidemic brought from Cartagena in Colombia, affected a third of the population of Havana. On November 30, 1665, Queen Mariana of Austria, widow of King Philip IV of Spain, ratified the heraldic shield of Cuba, which took as its symbolic motifs the first three castles of Havana: the Real Fuerza, the Tres Santos Reyes Magos del Morro and San Salvador de la Punta. The shield also displayed a symbolic golden key to represent the title "Key to the Gulf". On 1674, the works for the City Walls were started, as part of the fortification efforts. They would be completed on 1740.

By the middle of the 18th century Havana had more than seventy thousand inhabitants, and was the third largest city in the Americas, ranking behind Lima and Mexico City but ahead of Boston and New York.^[11] The prosperity of Havana brought continued international attention, and the city was unexpectedly seized by the Royal Navy. The episode began on June 6, 1762, when at dawn, an impressive British fleet, containing more than 50 ships and 14,000 men, sailed into Cuban waters, by August the British had Havana under siege^[12]. The city was subsequently governed by Sir George Keppel on behalf of Great Britain. The British seized the city as part of the Seven Years' War, they immediately opened up trade with their North American and Caribbean colonies, causing a rapid transformation of Cuban society. Food, horses and other goods flooded into the city, and thousands of slaves from West Africa were transported to the island to work on the under manned sugar plantations.^[12] Though Havana, which had become the third largest city in the new world, was to enter an era of sustained development and closening ties with North America, the British occupation was not to last. Pressure from London by sugar merchants fearing a decline in sugar prices forced a series of negotiations with the Spanish over colonial territories. Less than a year after Havana was seized, the Peace of Paris was signed by the three warring powers thus ending the Seven Years' War. The treaty gave Britain Florida in exchange for Cuba on the recommendation of the French, who advised that declining the offer could result in Spain losing Mexico and much of the South American mainland to the British.^[12]

After regaining the city, the Spanish transformed Havana into the most heavily fortified city in the Americas. Construction began on what was to become the Fortress of San Carlos de la Cabaña, the biggest Spanish fortification in the New World. The work extended for eleven years and was enormously costly, but on completion the fort was considered an unassailable bastion and essential to Havana's defence. It was provided with a large number of cannons forged in Barcelona. Other fortifications were constructed, as well: the castle of Atarés defended the Shipyard in the inner bay, while the castle of El Príncipe guarded the city from the west. Several cannon batteries located along the bay's canal (among them the San Nazario and Doce Apóstoles batteries) ensured that no place in the harbor remained undefended.

The Havana cathedral was constructed in 1748 as a Jesuit church, and converted in 1777 into the Parroquial Mayor church, after the Suppression of the Jesuits in Spanish territory in 1767. In 1788, it formally became a Cathedral. Between 1789 and 1790 Cuba was apportioned into an individual diocese by the Roman Catholic Church. On January 15, 1796, the remains of Christopher Columbus were transported to the island from Santo Domingo. They rested here until 1898, when they were transferred to Seville's Cathedral, after Spain's loss of Cuba.

Havana's shipyard (named El Arsenal) was extremely active, thanks to the lumber resources available in the vicinity of the city. The Santísima Trinidad was the largest warship of her time. Launched in 1769, she was about 62 meters long, had three decks and 120 cannons. She was later upgraded to as many as 144 cannons and four decks. She sank following the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. This ship cost 40.000 pesos fuertes of the time, which gives an idea of the importance of the Arsenal, by comparing its cost to the 26 million pesos fuertes and 109 ships produced during the Arsenal's existence.^[13]

As trade between Caribbean and North American states increased in the early 19th century, Havana became a flourishing and fashionable city. Havana's theaters featured the most distinguished actors of the age, and prosperity amongst the burgeoning middle-class led to expensive new classical mansions being erected. During this period Havana became known as the Paris of the Antilles.

The 19th century opened with the arrival in Havana of Alexander von Humboldt, who was impressed by the vitality of the port. In 1837, the first railroad was constructed, a 51 km stretch between Havana and Bejucal, which was used for transporting sugar from the valley of Guinness to the harbor. With this, Cuba became the fifth country in the world to have a railroad, and the first Spanish-speaking country. Throughout the century, Havana was enriched by the construction of additional cultural facilities, such as the theater Tacon, one of the most luxurious in the world, the Artistic and Literary Liceo (Lyceum) and the theater Coliseo. In 1863, the city walls were knocked down so that the metropolis could be enlarged. At the end of the century, the well-off classes moved to the quarter of El Vedado. Later, they emigrated towards Miramar, and today, evermore to the west, they have settled in Siboney. At the end of the 19th century, Havana witnessed the final moments of Spanish colonialism in America, which ended definitively when the United States warship Maine was sunk in its port, giving that country the pretext to invade the island. The 20th century began with Havana, and therefore Cuba, under occupation by the USA. In 1906 the Bank of Nova Scotia opened the first branch in Havana. By 1931 it had three branches in Havana.

Republican period and Post-revolution

Under American influence, the city grew and prospered. Numerous residencies, luxury hotels, casinos and nightclubs were constructed since the 1930s to serve Havana's burgeoning tourist industry. Santo Trafficante, Jr. took the roulette wheel at the Sans-Souci, Meyer Lansky directed the Riviera, Lucky Luciano, the National Casino, and the Havana Hilton was Latin America's tallest, largest hotel. At that time Havana became an exotic capital of appeal and numerous activities ranging from marinas, grand prix car racing, musical shows, parks, etc. A city accompanied by gambling and corruption where gangsters and stars were known to mix socially. During this era Havana was usually producing more revenue than Las Vegas. A gallery of black and white portraits from the era still adorns the walls of the bar of the National Hotel, including pictures of Frank Sinatra with Ava Gardner, Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper. In 1958 about 300,000 American tourists visited the city. One of the most well-known to the world was the American author Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), who quoted "in terms of beauty, only Venice and Paris surpassed Havana", Hemingway wrote several of his famous novels in Cuba and lived there the last 22 years of his life.^[14]

After the revolution of 1959 efforts were made to improve social services, public housing and official buildings; nevertheless, shortages that affected Cuba following the nationalization, without compensation, of all private property and businesses on the island, followed by the U.S. embargo hit Havana especially hard. By 1966-68, the Castro government had expropriated all privately owned business entities in Cuba, down to "certain kinds of small retail forms of commerce" (law No. 1076 [1]). Today much of the city is in a dilapidated state and crumbling, with its citizens not having the monetary ability nor the government authorization to preserve the old buildings from the effects of the tropical climate, government abandonment, and occasional hurricanes. Following a severe economic downturn after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and with it the end of the billions of dollars in subsidies they gave the Cuban government, many believed the Soviet backed regime would soon vanish, as it happened in Eastern Europe. However, the communist government increasingly turned to tourism for financial support. Most of this new tourism comes from Canada and western European nations, amounting to approximately 2 billion dollars annually according to National Geographic. An effort has gone into rebuilding Old Havana for tourist purposes and a number of streets and squares have been rehabilitated.^[15] Despite Havana being recently opened to outsiders after years of closure, today tourism in Havana is shadowed by apartheid as communist authorities don't allow Cubans to enter many hotels, restaurants, shows, stores, and beaches restrained only for foreigners. Even gifts, invitations, and contact with foreigners is restrained.

Geography

The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours: Marimelena, Guanabacoa, and Atarés. The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. The low hills on which the city lies rise gently from the deep blue waters of the straits. A noteworthy elevation is the 200-foot- (60-metre-) high limestone ridge that slopes up from the east and culminates in the heights of La Cabaña and El Morro, the sites of colonial fortifications overlooking the bay. Another notable rise is the hill to the west that is occupied by the University of Havana and the Prince's Castle.

Climate

Havana, like much of Cuba, enjoys a pleasant year-round climate that is tempered by the island's position in the belt of the trade winds and by the warm offshore currents. Average temperatures range from 72 °F (22 °C) in January and February to 82 °F (28 °C) in August. The temperature seldom drops below 50 °F (10 °C).The smallest temperature was 33 ºF(2.0 ºC)in Santiago de las Vegas,Boyeros.And the smallest temperature of cuba are 32 ºF(0,6 ºC)in Bainoa,Havana province. Rainfall is heaviest in October and lightest from February through April, averaging 46 inches (1,167 millimetres) annually. Hurricanes occasionally strike the island, but they ordinarily hit the south coast, and damage in Havana is normally less than elsewhere in the country.

On the night of July 8-9, 2005, the eastern suburbs of the city took a direct hit from Hurricane Dennis, with 100 mph winds the storm whipped fierce 10-foot waves over Havana's seawall, and its winds tore apart pieces of some of the city's crumbling colonial buildings. Chunks of concrete fell from the city's colonial buildings. At least 5,000 homes were damaged in Havana's surrounding province ^[16]. Three months later, on October 2005, the coastal regions suffered severe flooding following Hurricane Wilma. The table below lists temperature averages throughout the year:

Climate Table based on typical year

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg high temperature °C	25.8	26.1	27.6	28.6	29.8	30.5	31.3	31.6	31.0	29.2	27.7	26.5
Avg low temperature °C	18.6	18.6	19.7	20.9	22.4	23.4	23.8	24.1	23.8	23.0	21.3	19.5
Avg days with rain	5.0	5.0	3.0	3.0	6.0	10.0	7.0	9.0	10.0	11.0	6.0	5.0
Source: Hong Kong Observatory

Architecture

Neo-classical

Havana is unique due to its unrivalled rhythmic arcades built largely by Spanish immigrants. Many interior patios remain similar to designs in Seville, Cadiz and Granada. Neo-classicism affected all new buildings in Havana and can be seen all over the city. Many urban features were introduced into the city at the time including Gas public lighting in 1848 and the railroad in 1837. In the second half of the 18th century sugar and coffee production increased rapidly becoming essential in the development of Havana's most prominent architectural style. Many wealthy Habaneros took their inspiration from the French; this can be seen within the interiors of upper class houses such as the Aldama Palace built in 1844. This is considered the most important neoclassical residential building in Cuba and typifies the design of many houses of this period with portales of neoclassical columns facing open spaces or courtyards.

In 1925 Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier, the head of urban planning in Paris moved to Havana for five years to collaborate with architects and landscape designers. In the master planning of the city his aim was to create a harmonic balance between the classical built form and the tropical landscape. He embraced and connected the city’s road networks while accentuating prominent landmarks. His influence has left a huge mark on Havana although many of his ideas were cut short by the great depression in 1929. During the first decades of the 20th century Havana expanded more rapidly than at any time during its history. Great wealth prompted architectural styles to be influenced from abroad. The peak of Neoclassicism came with the construction of the Vedado district (begun in1859). This whole neighbourhood is littered with set back well-proportioned buildings.

Colonial and Baroque

Great riches were brought from the colonialists into and through Havana as it was a key transhipment point between the new world and old world. As a result Havana was the most heavily fortified city in the Americas. Most examples of early architecture can be seen in military fortifications such as La Fortaleza de San Carlos de la Cabana (1558 - 1577) designed by Juan Antonelli and the Castillo del Morro (1589 - 1630). This sits at the entrance of Havana Bay and provides an insight into the supremacy and wealth at that time. Old Havana was also protected by a defensive wall begun in 1674 but had already overgrown its boundaries when it was completed in 1767, becoming the new neighbourhood of Centro Habana.

The influence from different styles and cultures can be seen in Havana's colonial architecture, with a diverse range of Moorish, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Roman. The Convento de Santa Clara (1638 - 18th century) is a good example of early Spanish influenced architecture. Its great hall looks resembles an inverted ship and shows the skill of early craftsmen.

The Havana cathedral (1748 -1777) dominating the Plaza de la Caterdral (1749) is the best example of Cuban Baroque. Surrounding it are the Condes de Casa-Bayona (1720 -1746) Marqueses de Arcos (1746) and the Marquesas de Aguas Claras (1751 -1775).

Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Eclectic

At the turn of the 20th century along with Buenos Aires, Havana was the grandest and most important Latin American city in terms of architecture. This boom period known as vacas gordas (fat cows) demonstrates huge examples of buildings from the international influences of art nouveau, art deco and eclectic.

Its suburbs developed to what we see today as Miramar, Marianao, Vedado and Playa. The lush and wealthy Miramar was set out on the American street grid pattern and became a home to diplomats and foreigners. The railway terminal (1912) and the University of Havana, (1906 -1940) and the Capitolio (1926 - 1929) are a good example of the art nouveau style. The Capitolio dome was at 62 meters the highest point in the city and an example of the influence and wealth deriving from the USA at the time. The Lopez Serrano building built in 1932 by Ricardo Mira was the first tall building in Cuba and inspired by the Rockefeller Center in New York. Its design influence can be seen in many buildings in Miami and Los Angeles. The Edificio Bacardi (1930) is one of Havana's grandest buildings and it's best example of Art Deco. Located on a small knoll overlooking the entrance to Havana Bay, is the art-deco style Hotel Nacional de Cuba; originally built in 1929-30 through a joint agreement with the Cuban government and U.S.-based bank.

Culture

Havana, by far the leading cultural centre of the island, offers a wide variety of features that range from museums, palaces, public squares, avenues, churches, fortresses (including the largest fortified complex in the Americas dating from the 16th through 18th centuries), ballet and from art and musical festivals to exhibitions of technology. The restoration of Old Havana offered a number of new attractions, including a museum to house relics of the Cuban revolution. The government placed special emphasis on cultural activities, many of which are free or involve only a minimal charge.

Old Havana

Main article: Old Havana

UNESCO Heritage site Old Havana, (La Habana Vieja in Spanish), contains the core of the original city of Havana, it is the richest colonial set of Latin America. Havana Vieja was founded by the Spanish in 1519 in the natural harbor of the Bay of Havana. It became a stopping point for the treasure laden Spanish Galleons on the crossing between the New World and the Old World. In the 17th century it was one of the main shipbuilding centers. The city was built in baroque and neoclassic style. Many buildings have fallen in ruin during the communist period in the later half of the 20th century, but a number are being restored. The narrow streets of old Havana contain many buildings, accounting for perhaps as many as one-third of the approximately 3,000 buildings found in Old Havana.^[17]

Old Havana is the ancient city formed from the port, the official center and the Plaza de Armas. Alejo Carpentier called Old Havana the place "de las columnas" (of the columns). The Cuban government is taking many steps to preserve and to restore Old Havana, through the Office of the city historian, directed by Eusebio Leal.^[18] Old Havana and its fortifications were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982.^[19]

Chinatown

Further information: Chinese Cuban

Havana has an active Chinese community and a number of Chinese restaurants in its Chinatown (Barrio Chino) district located in Centro Habana. The heart of Havana's chinatown is on el Cuchillo de Zanja (or The Zanja Canal). The strip is a pedestrian-only street adorned with many red lanterns, dancing red paper dragons and other Chinese cultural designs, there is a great number of restaurants that serve a full spectrum of Chinese dishes. The Chinatown district has two paifang, a large one located on Calle Dragones, the materials were donated in the late 90s by the People's Republic of China ^[20], it has a well defined written welcoming sign in Chinese and Spanish. The smaller arch is located on Zanja strip. Almost a century ago, Havana was home to Latin America's biggest and most vibrant Chinatown, the product of heavy Chinese immigration. Havana's Chinatown incorporated into the city by the early part of the 20th century, the neighborhood was booming with Chinese restaurants, laundries, banks, pharmacies, theaters and several Chinese-language newspapers, the neighborhood comprised of 44 square blocks during its prime.^[21]

Only one of what were once four Chinese-language newspapers remains in Havana, Kwong Wah Po, written by Abel Fung, member of the Promotional Group of Chinatown ^[22]. The newspaper is not subject to state censorship. In addition, Chinatown is the only area granted autonomy from many laws that govern the rest of Cuba. Restaurants, for example, are not state run nor are they subject to the laws of private restaurants in that they are allowed to have more than 12 seats as well as serve seafood.

The Cuban's Chinese boom ended when Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution seized private businesses, sending tens of thousands of business-minded Chinese fleeing, mainly to the United States and their homeland China. Unlike that of Argentina and other Latin American countries, the overseas Chinese population of Cuba was once very large. Age, emigration and intermarriage have taken a toll on Havana's once flourishing Chinese community. While descendants are making efforts to preserve and revive the culture, the island's last pure Chinese are slowly disappearing into Havana's Chinese cemetery, taking with them part of Cuba's history. Chinese immigration to Cuba started in 1847 when Spanish settlers brought in Cantonese contract workers to work in the sugar fields. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers were brought in from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan during the following decades to replace the labor of African slaves. After completing 8-year contracts, the Chinese immigrants generally settled permanently in Havana, where their descendants have since intermarried with local Cubans.

To tie in with the Revolution's economic reliance on tourism, attempts have recently been launched to attract revitalization investment for Chinatown from state-run enterprises of the People's Republic of China and overseas Chinese private investors, particularly Chinese Canadians. The Promotional Group of Havana's Chinatown was created in 1995 by several Chinese-born, descendents and habitants of the neighborhood, its purpose is to promote and execute the cultural rescue actions, strengthening and enrichment of the values, customs, traditions and contributions of the Chinese presence to the Cuban patrimony. The group promotes a vierity of activities such as Chinese-language classes, demonstrations of martial arts, Chinese folk dance, traditional Cantonese teatre and celebrates different festivities throughout the year, such as the Chinese New Year festival, and since 1997 the overseas Chinese festival (the most important festival).

Visual arts

A house located on 17th Street and E, is the very well maintained neo-classical mansion of the Countess of Revilla de Camargo, today it is the Museum of Decorative Arts (Museo de Artes Decorativas), known as the small French Palace of Havana built between 1924 and 1927, it was designed in Paris by architects P. Virad and M. Destuque, inspired in French Renaissance^[23]. A lavish display of 18th and 19th century European treasures that recall a time when Havana was known as the Paris of the Antilles, and many luxury goods, including porcelain from Worcester, Meissen and Sevres, were imported ^[24]. In the French room, a marble bust of Marie Antoinette smiles demurely, her graceful neck intact. There is another room full of Chinese screens, another one featuring English furniture and landspcape painting. For more than 40 decades the museum has been exhibiting more than 33,000 works dating from the reigns of Louis XV, Louis XVI, and Napoleon III; as well as XVI to XX Century Oriental pieces, among many other treasures^[25]. The Museum has ten permanent exhibit halls with works that range from the XVI to the XX centuries. Among them are prominent porcelain articles from the factories in Sevres and Chantilly, France; Meissen, Germany; and Wedgwood, England, as well as Chinese from the Kien Lung period and Japanese from the Imari. The furniture comes from Leonard Boudin, Simoneau, Jean Henri Riesener and several others.

The National Museum of Fine Arts is a Fine Arts museum that exhibits Cuban art collections from the colonial times up to contemporary generation. There are two impressive buildings, one dedicated to Cuban Art and the Universal Art, in the former Asturian Center^[26], the former Fine Arts Museum built in 1954 is dedicated exclusively to housing Cuba Art collections. Several museums in Old Havana contain furniture, silverware, pottery, glass and other items from the colonial period. A great one of these is the Palace of the General Captains, where Spanish governors once lived. The Casa de Africa presents another aspect of Cuba's history, an impressive collection of Afro-Cuban religious artifacts. The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes containing works by Rubens, Goya and Velazquez now is closed for renovations, it is open to public at a temporary location on Calle Trocadero until renovations are complete. Other museums includes Casa de los Árabes and the Casa de Asia with Middle and Far Eastern collections. Many of these small boutiques museums are in elegant old Spanish architecture houses with airy courtyards. The Museo de Finanzas is more than an empty vault where dictator Fulgencio Batista once stashed his loot. A few old bank-notes are displayed on the walls. Havana's Museo del Automobil has an impressive collection of vehicles dating back to a 1905 Cadillac. In the Automobile museum there is also a Rolls Royce which belonged to Batista, near the 1960 Chevrolet that Che Guevara drove.

There is no other museum like the Museum of the Revolution (Museo de la Revolución), designed in Havana by Cuban architect Maruri, and the Belgian Jean Beleu, who came up with an eclectic design, which harmoniously combines Spanish, French and German architectural elements. The museum was the Presidential Palace, today, its displays and documents outline Cuba's history from the beginning of the neo-colonial period. As most museums of Havana are situated in Old Havana few of them could also be found in Vedado. In total, Havana has around 50 museums, including the Museum of Fine Art, the Revolution and Decorative Arts; the National Museum of Music; the Museum of Dance and Rum; the Cigar Museum; the Napoleonic, Colonial and Oricha Museums; the Museum of Antropology; the Ernest Hemingway Museum; the Jose Marti Monument; Museums of Natural Sciences, the City, Archeology Museum, and Gold-and Silverwork. Also the Aircraft, Parfume, Pharmaceutical, Sports, Numismatic and Weapons Museums.

Performing arts