Callejón de Hamel

Havana


There are at least four reasons that you should incorporate this community-driven back alley into any serious Havana outing: 1) it’s the unofficial HQ of Havana’s Afro-Cuban community; 2) it’s replete with inspired street art, much of it executed with recycled materials (this is where your old bathtub gets a new life); 3) it’s an essential stop for anyone trying to understand Cuba’s complex syncretic religions; and 4) the denizens put on hypnotic live rumba shows every Sunday.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Havana attractions

1. Torreón de San Lázaro

0.2 MILES

This tiny watchtower was built by the Spanish in the 18th century and quickly fell to British troops during the invasion of 1762. You can admire it from…

2. Monumento a Antonio Maceo

0.21 MILES

Lying in the shadow of Hospital Nacional Hermanos Ameijeiras, a 24-story Soviet-era hospital built in 1980, is this bronze representation of the mulato …

3. Convento & Iglesia del Carmen

0.21 MILES

This little-visited church’s bell tower dominates the Centro Habana skyline and is topped by a huge statue of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, but the real…

4. Monumento a Julio Antonio Mella

0.35 MILES

At the bottom of the Universidad de la Habana steps is a monument to the student leader who founded the first Cuban Communist Party in 1925. In 1929 Cuban…

5. Mella Portraits

0.36 MILES

Opposite the Monumento a Julio Antonio Mella outside the Universidad de la Habana are black-and-white Mella portraits permanently mounted on the wall in…

6. Museo Napoleónico

0.4 MILES

Without a doubt one of the best museums in Havana and thus in Cuba, this magnificently laid-out collection of 7000 objects associated with the life of…

7. Museo de Historia Natural Felipe Poey

0.45 MILES

Inside the Universidad de la Habana, this is the oldest museum in Cuba. It was founded in 1842 by the Royal Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural…

8. Universidad de la Habana

0.45 MILES

Founded by Dominican monks in 1728 and secularized in 1842, Havana's university began life in Habana Vieja before moving to its present site in 1902. The…