Sights in Havana
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Edificio Bacardí
Finished in 1929, the magnificent Edificio Bacardí is a triumph of art deco architecture with a whole host of lavish finishings that somehow manage to make kitschy look cool. Hemmed in by other buildings, it's hard to get a full kaleidoscopic view of the structure from street level, though the opulent bell tower can be glimpsed from all over Havana. There's a bar in the lobby, and for CUC$1 you can travel up to the tower for an eagle's-eye view.
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Iglesia del Santo Angel Custodio
Originally constructed in 1695, this church was pounded by a ferocious hurricane in 1846, after which it was entirely rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. Among the notable historical and literary figures that have passed through its handsome doors are 19th-century Cuban novelist Cirilo Villaverde, who set the main scene of his novel Cecilia Valdés here, and Félix Varela and José Martí, who were baptized in the church in 1788 and 1853 respectively.
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Lonja del Comercio
This large box-shaped building on Plaza de San Francisco is a former commodities market erected in 1909. In 1996 the building was completely renovated by Habaguanex and today it provides office space for foreign companies with joint ventures in Cuba. You can enter the Lonja to admire its central atrium and futuristic interior. It also houses the excellent café-restaurant El Mecurio, named after the bronze figure of the god Mercury that sits atop a dome on the roof.
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Museo de Simón Bolívar
A diminutive museum dedicated to Latin America’s great liberator, who remains a perennial hero to most Cubans. Downstairs there are panels containing text in English, French and Spanish that describe Bolívar’s life and his many accomplishments. Upstairs there’s a reproduction of his sword, a coin minted in his honor and paintings of him by contemporary artists. There is a bronze statue of Simón Bolívar in a small park across the road.
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Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta
One in a quartet of forts defending Havana harbor, La Punta was designed by the Italian military engineer Giovanni Bautista Antonelli and built between 1589 and 1600. During the colonial era a chain was stretched 250m to the castle of El Morro every night to close the harbor mouth to shipping. The castle's museum displays artifacts from sunken Spanish treasure fleets, a collection of model ships and information on the slave trade.
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Palacio del Segundo Cabo
Wedged into the square's northwest corner, this building was constructed in 1772 as the headquarters of the Spanish vice-governor. After several reincarnations as a post office, the palace of the Senate, the Supreme Court, the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and the seat of the Cuban Geographical Society, the building is today a well-stocked bookstore. Pop-art fans should take a look at the palace's Sala Galería Raúl Martínez. The building was being renovated at time of writing.
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Edificio Santo Domingo
Across Obispo from the Hotel Ambos Mundos is the site of Havana's original university, which stood here between 1728 and 1902. It was originally part of a convent; the contemporary modern office block was built by Habaguanex in 2006 over the skeleton of an uglier 1950s office, the roof of which was used as a helicopter landing pad. It has been ingeniously refitted with the convent's original bell tower and baroque doorway – an interesting juxtaposition of old and new. Many of the university's arts faculties have now moved back here, and a small museum/art gallery displays a scale model of the original convent and various artifacts that were rescued from it.
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Museo-Casa Natal de José Martí
The Museo-Casa Natal de José Martí is a humble, two-story dwelling on the edge of Habana Vieja, where the apostle of Cuban independence was born on January 28, 1853. Today it's a small museum that displays letters, manuscripts, photos, books and other mementos of his life. While not as comprehensive as the Martí museum on Plaza de la Revolución, it's a charming little abode and well worth a small detour.
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Palacio de Los Condes de Santovenia
Habaguanex’ five-star Hotel Santa Isabel is a historic building in its own right and a former stately palace of the counts of Santovenia. It dates from the 1780s and was converted into a luxurious hotel in 1867, making it one of Habana’s oldest hotels. Habaguanex gave the place a much needed makeover in the 1990s, which was good enough for ex-US president Jimmy Carter, who stayed here during his groundbreaking 2002 visit.
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Colección de Arte Universal
Arranged inside the fabulously eclectic Centro Asturianas (a work of art in its own right), the Colección de Arte Universal exhibits international art from 500 BC to the present day on three separate floors. Highlights include an extensive Spanish collection (with a canvas by El Greco), some 2000-year-old Roman mosaics, Greek pots from the 5th century BC and a suitably refined Gainsborough canvas (in the British room).
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Museo de Historia Natural
Universidad de la Habana's central quadrangle, the Plaza Ignacio Agramonte, displays a tank captured by Castro’s rebels in 1958. To the left is the Edificio Felipe Poey, which contains the Museo de Historia Natural. It is Cuba’s oldest museum, founded in 1874 by the Academia de Ciencias Médicas, Físicas y Naturales. Many of the stuffed specimens of Cuban flora and fauna date from the 19th century.
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Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba
A long, uninspiring concrete structure that glowers from behind the Martí memorial, the modern HQ of the Cuban government doesn’t match the architectural splendor of the Capitolio or the Presidential Palace. This is where the affairs of the Cuban government are sorted out and where the elusive Fidel maintains an office. Not surprisingly, it’s strictly out of bounds for foreigners (and most Cubans, for that matter).
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Palacio Cueto
Kissing the southeast corner of Plaza Vieja is this distinctive Gaudí-esque building, which remains Havana's finest example of art nouveau. Its outrageously ornate facade once housed a warehouse and a hat factory before it was rented by José Cueto in the 1920s as the Palacio Vienna hotel. Habaguanex, the commercial arm of the City Historian's Office, is in the process of restoring the building, which was constructed in 1906 and has lain empty and unused since the early '90s.
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Gaviota
Habana’s Jardín Botánico Nacional (National Botanical Garden), situated 20km south of the city, is notoriously inaccessible by public transportation, and Gaviota’s organized trip is the easiest way to get there. The standard package (CUC$19) includes transportation to the gardens, entry fee, a guided tour, and a free cocktail when you arrive. The gardens themselves are surprisingly interesting and varied.
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Monumento a Julio Antonio Mella
At the bottom of the university steps there is a monument to the student leader who founded the first Cuban Communist Party in 1925. In 1929 the dictator Machado had Mella assassinated in Mexico City. More interesting than the monument itself are the black-and-white Mella portraits permanently mounted on the wall in the little park across San Lázaro.
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Colección de Arte Cubano
The Colección de Arte Cubano displays purely Cuban art. Works are displayed in chronological order starting on the 3rd floor and are surprisingly varied. Artists to look out for are Guillermo Collazo, considered to be the first truly great Cuban artist, Rafael Blanco with his cartoon-like paintings and sketches, Raúl Martínez, a master of 1960s Cuban pop art, and the Picasso-like Wilfredo Lam.
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Palacio de las Convenciones
Also known as the Havana Convention Center, this is one of Cuba's most dramatic modern buildings. Built for the Nonaligned Conference in 1979, the four interconnecting halls contain a state-of-the-art auditorium with 2101 seats and 11 smaller halls. The 589-member National Assembly meets here twice a year, and the complex hosts more than 50,000 conference attendees annually. Not far from here is Pabexpo, 20,000 sq meters of exhibition space in four interconnecting pavilions that hosts about 15 trade shows a year.
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Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario
The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, also called the Catedral de los Campos de Cuba, on Santa María del Rosario’s old town square, was built in 1720 by the Conde de Casa Bayona near the Quiebra Hacha sugar mill, of which nothing remains today. Inside are a gilded mahogany altar and a painting by Veronese. It is one of suburban Havana’s most attractive secrets.
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Havanatur
All of Habana’s main travel agencies offer a Hemingway tour, and the packages are much the same. The itinerary (CUC$20) includes a visit to the author’s house La Finca Vigía, a side trip to the fishing village of Cojímar (where Papa moored his boat), plus an opportunity to down copious mojitos and daiquirís in Hemingway’s two favorite watering holes, the overhyped Bodeguita del Medio and El Floridita.
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Casa de Los Condes de Jaruco
With its wide gallery, this house is said to be typical of aristocratic residences built around 1737. Although the house is named after the counts of Jaruco, its most famous resident was María Mercedes de Santa Cruz y Cárdenas, who was born in the mansion and went on to become one of the city’s early literary greats. Today the building houses La Casona Centro de Arte.
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Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón
Once described as an 'exercise in pious excesses,' this cemetery (a national monument) is renowned for its striking religious iconography and elaborate marble statues. Far from being eerie, a walk through these 56 hallowed hectares can be an educational and emotional stroll through the annals of Cuban history. A guidebook with a detailed map (CUC$5) is for sale at the entrance. It's one of the largest cemeteries in the Americas.
After entering the neo-Romanesque northern gateway (1870), there's the tomb of independence leader General Máximo Gómez (1905) on the right (look for the bronze face in a circular medallion). Further along past the first circle, and also on the…
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Museo el Templete
The tiny neoclassical Doric chapel on the east side of Plaza de Armas was erected in 1828 at the point where Havana's first Mass was held beneath a ceiba tree in November 1519. A similar ceiba tree has now replaced the original. Inside the chapel are three large paintings of the event by the French painter Jean Baptiste Vermay (1786–1833).
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Asociación Cultural Yoruba de Cuba
A museum that provides a worthwhile overview of the Santería religion, the saints and their powers, although some travelers have complained that the exhibits don't justify the price. There are tambores (Santería drum ceremonies) on alternate Fridays at 4:30pm. Note that there's a church dress code for the tambores (no shorts or tank tops).
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Palacio del Marqués de Arcos
Completed in 1746, this luxurious former residential mansion is a perfect example of a typical Spanish-American colonial house, with a spacious main room with a wide staircase that hugs two walls as it winds up to the 2nd floor. Five arcades of Doric columns adorn the ground floor and lovely porticoes above the arcades overlook the square. The main entrance to the building is on Calle Mercaderes.
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Monumento a Calixto García
Guarding the entrance to Calle G on the Malecón is the equestrian Monumento a Calixto García, paying homage to the valiant Cuban general who was prevented by US military leaders in Santiago de Cuba from attending the Spanish surrender in 1898. Twenty-four bronze plaques around the statue provide a history of García’s 30-year struggle for Cuban independence.
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