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Havana is one of the world's most beguiling cities, renowned for its gracious people and vibrant music and dance, yet seemingly caught in a 1950s time-warp. Old Havana, or Habana Vieja, is an amalgam of historic structures, cobbled plazas, castles, cathedrals and classical mansions that date back centuries from the height of Spanish influence. In fact, Havana's core is unrivaled in the Americas for its legacy of historic buildings, although many are in various states of dereliction; others have been renovated and serve as museums, hotels and restaurants.

Beyond the old city core in Havana, the mid-20th-century enclave of Vedado teems with hotels and nightclubs. Plaza de la Revolucion hosts Cuba's government buildings. Farther afield, visitors to Havana will find the Museo Hemingway and the glorious beaches of Playas del Este.

Although Havana's physical attractions are reason enough to visit, travelers often visit to experience the unique, almost surreal, amalgam of socialism and sensuality unique to Cuba. Five decades of communism have not been kind to the city of Havana, and controversy continues still.

Must See or Do

Sights—Cobbled Plaza de la Catedral, with its exquisite cathedral; the Capitolio Nacional, Havana's former Congress building; the forts of Parque Historico-Militar Morro-Cabana; the colonial buildings on Plaza de Armas and Plaza Vieja; the fascinating tombs of Cementerio Colon.

Museums—The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, showcasing Cuban and international art; the Museo de la Revolucion, telling the events of the Cuban Revolution; the Museo de la Ciudad, full of precious antiquities from Havana's past; Hemingway Museum, preserving the novelist's former home.

Memorable Meals—Divine pizza at La Chucheria; anything off the nouvelle Latino menu at La Guarida; roast chicken in orange sauce at El Aljibe; splendid ice cream at Coppelia; the spectacular view from the rooftop La Torre.

Late Night—The Tropicana nightclub's Las Vegas-style cabaret; joining Havana's intelligentsia at the Gran Teatro for a performance of Ballet Nacional de Cuba; salsa dancing at Salon Rojo.

Walks—Explore the cobbled plazas of Habana Vieja; walk the length of the Malecon; stroll along the Prado or the tree-shaded streets of Vedado.

Especially for Kids—Dolphin and sea lion shows at the Acuario Nacional; a steam-train ride around Parque Lenin; beautiful sands and warm waters at Playas del Este.

Geography

Havana is located on the northwest coast of Cuba, just 90 mi/145 km south of Key West, Florida. Most tourist attractions are in Old Havana (Habana Vieja), the colonial city laid out during the 16th and 17th centuries in a grid on the west bank of Bahia de la Habana. Old Havana extends west from the bay to the Prado, a broad, tree-lined esplanade beyond which lies the 19th-century residential area of Centro Habana, inland of the seafront boulevard called the Malecon.

Farther west is Vedado, a former middle-class zone that still functions as the center of business and nightlife. Fading hotels from the 1950s still stand there, rising over grandiose art-nouveau mansions and art-deco apartment complexes. The neoclassical university is there, as is the Cementerio Colon, full of flamboyant mausoleums. Vedado's tree-lined boulevards extend beyond the Rio Almanderes to Miramar—a 20th-century grid of once-noble mansions and modernist homes, many now occupied by foreign embassies. Ritzy modern hotels also occupy the space, alongside the Miramar Trade Center. Miramar extends into the upscale residential areas of Cubanacan and Siboney, locations of the city's convention center and biogenetic engineering industries, respectively, plus the hidden-away homes of Cuba's government elite.

Sprawling and tumbledown working-class regions extend for miles/kilometers south of the city. To the east lie the historic areas of Regla and Guanabacoa, both centers of the Afro-Cuban Santeria religion. Beyond lies Alamar, a region of post-revolutionary high-rise apartments separating the city from the pleasant beach area of Playas del Este.

History

Founded in 1519 by Spanish conquistadores on the shores of a flask-shaped bay, San Cristobal de la Habana was ideally situated for growth. Spain's Treasure Fleet of the Americas assembled there for the twice-annual journey to Spain, and the city grew wealthy from shipbuilding and provisioning. Vast profits from sugar production and the slave trade added to the economy. Great castles were built to protect Havana from pirates and foreign invaders.

Nonetheless, the English seized Havana in 1762, opening the city to international trade, although they held it for only one year. Havana remained Spain's "Pearl of the Antilles" until 1898, when the U.S. intervened in the Cuban wars of independence by declaring war on Spain and thus gained possession of the island under the Treaty of Paris. Cuban nationalist Jose Marti led the independence cause and is today considered Cuba's national hero.

In 1902, the U.S. granted Cuba independence—but it also wrote Cuba's constitution and controlled a string of presidents in ensuing decades. Havana witnessed phenomenal growth as U.S. investment poured in, and Havana became a playground for U.S. tourists. Corrupt government, the presence of U.S. mobsters, and epidemic poverty fostered revolutionary movements that culminated on New Year's Eve 1958, when Gen. Fulgencio Batista fled Cuba and Fidel Castro seized power.

After Castro gained control, the city experienced an economic decline. In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy enacted a trade embargo that is still in place. By 1967, the Cuban government had seized or closed all private businesses. Despite massive amounts of aid from what was then the Soviet Union, Havana's infrastructure began to crumble, and Eastern Bloc vehicles replaced U.S. autos. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, residents were forced to endure severe food shortages and electricity blackouts. Most citizens bought and sold on the black market to survive, and many still do.

The city's architectural legacy spanning early Spanish Colonial to 1950s modernism has been preserved thanks to a remarkable restoration project that has given much of Old Havana a facelift. Historic sites, plazas and hotels have been restored and a world-class convention center built. However, parts of Havana beyond the central districts remain largely dilapidated, with crumbling infrastructure and pot-holed streets.

In 2014 President Barack Obama re-opened diplomatic ties with Cuba, while also loosening restrictions on travel to the country. In April 2019, President Donald Trump signed an executive order reversing a number of Obama-era reforms. The U.S, embassy was closed after an alleged attack of unspecified airborne substance. However, direct commercial flights and cruises from the U.S. to Havana continue to operate.

Potpourri

In 1957, Mafia boss John Traficante reportedly set up a "honey trap" for then-U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy with three girls in a special suite of the Hotel Comodoro, which had a two-way-mirror—but then forgot to film the scene, and the blackmail scheme fell flat.

Che Guevara was president of the National Bank of Cuba 1960-61. The no-longer-circulating banknotes that bear his signature are popular souvenirs and sell very well on eBay. Ironically, Guevara wanted to eliminate money entirely.

Tapping two fingers on the opposite shoulder or the nose is a coded warning that a state informant is present.

Around 1950, Havana had no fewer than 270 brothels, most notably La Marina, frequented by Graham Greene (author of Our Man in Havana). All were closed after the Revolution.

Location

Shore Excursions