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To see La Habana Vieja and its many colonial palaces and Baroque churches at their best, plan to tour on foot. Although you could spend days here, you can easily see the highlights of Old Havana in two days. Make the fortresses across the bay a side trip from La Habana Vieja, and save the sights farther east, as well as the Play
To see La Habana Vieja and its many colonial palaces and Baroque churches at their best, plan to tour on foot. Although you could spend days here, you can easily see the highlights of Old Havana in two days. Make the fortresses across the bay a side trip from La Habana
To see La Habana Vieja and its many colonial palaces and Baroque churches at their best, plan to tour on foot. Although
To see La Habana Vieja and its many colonial palaces and Baroque churches at their best, plan to tour on foot. Although you could spend days here, you can easily see the highlights of Old Havana in two days. Make the fortresses across the bay a side trip from La Habana Vieja, and save the sights farther east, as well as the Playas del Este, for another day. Centro Habana also has many historic sights, and it is here that you will truly see the sprawling everyday life of Cubans. The Capitolio, Chinatown, and Parque Central are must-sees for tourists, but a stroll in the southern reaches of Centro Habana and its dusty streets are an eye-opener. A tour of Centro Habana can begin and end at the Hotel Inglaterra and Parque Central. El Malecón, from La Punta all the way to La Chorrera fortress at the mouth of Río Almendares (Almendares River), is an important part of Havana life and a good hour's hike.
Vedado stretches from Calzada de Infanta to the Río Almendares and is difficult to explore on foot. Taxi rides to objectives such as the Museo de Artes Decorativos or UNEAC can be combined with strolls through leafy streets filled with stately mansions. Miramar, which stretches southwest across the Río Almendares, was the residential area for wealthy Habaneros and foreigners before the Revolution. A tour of its wide, tree-lined avenues is best made by car.
The streets in La Habana Vieja and Centro Habana have been, in European fashion, given such poetic names as Amargura (Bitterness), Esperanza (Hope), or Ánimas (Souls). Note that some streets have pre- and postrevolutionary names; both are often cited on maps. Throughout the city, addresses are also frequently cited as street names with numbers and/or locations, as in: "Calle Concordia, e/Calle Gervasio y Calle Escobar" or "Calle de los Oficios 53, esquina de Obrapía." It's helpful to know the following terms and abbreviations: "e/" (entre) is “between”; esquina de (abbreviated "esq. de") is "corner of"; and y is "and."
The restored San Francisco de Paula Church stands in a plaza at the edge of the harbor at the southern end of the Alameda de Paula. Built between 1730 and 1745 as part of what was then a hospital for women, its facade is described as "pre-Churrigueresque," meaning that it was done prior to the popular exuberant baroque style for which Spanish architect José Benito Churriguera is known. The church fell into disrepair in the 20th century, when the adjoining hospital was moved far from the uproarious port. Restored in early 2001 and filled with Cuban art (including a series of crosses by prominent contemporary painter Zaida del Río), the church is now often used as a concert hall and art gallery.
esq. de Calle San Ignacio, Havana, La Habana, 10100, Cuba
This museum showcases a collection of art and various cultural artifacts from all over Africa. There's also a room dedicated to the orishas (Yoruban deities) upstairs. Look out for the interesting collection of African instruments upstairs. Live Afro-Cuban music is played here from 3 to 5 pm on the first Saturday and second Tuesday of every month.
This house is named for the obra pía (pious work) with orphans that was carried out here in colonial times. Its elaborately wrought Baroque doorway is thought to have been carved in Cádiz around 1686. The architecture of the interior patio is based on North African fondouks (inns) and, later, of Spanish corralas (patios). There's much to see here: arches of different sizes and shapes, vases decorated with paintings by Spanish painter Ignacio Zuloaga, as well as a collection of old sewing machines and needlecraft paraphernalia. The Alejo Carpentier artifacts (including the car he used in Paris) are still there, but locked up in a special room that you must get permission ahead of time to see.
Housed in an elegant colonial mansion, this museum is dedicated to the life of Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan military leader who was instrumental in the revolutions against the Spanish Empire. He was credited with helping to liberate Bolivia and was also president of Gran Colombia, as well as dictator of Peru. The museum houses a range of paintings, photos, and documents pertaining to Bolívar, as well as a selection of his medals. There's also a section of the museum dedicated to Venezuela, showcasing indigenous art and ceramics, and an exhibition about the life of former president Hugo Chávez.
Calle Mercaderes 160, Havana, La Habana, 10100, Cuba
Dedicated to and named for the great Cuban Surrealist painter Wifredo Lam, who was known as the Cuban Picasso, this gallery and museum is just behind the Catedral de la Habana in the elegant, 18th-century Casa del Obispo Peñalver. The center hosts temporary shows with works by contemporary Cuban and South American artists. Lam, born in 1902, studied in Spain and fought with the republic against Franco. He later fled to France, where he was influenced by Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and the poet André Breton, among others. He returned to Cuba to support the Revolution, and later returned to Paris, where he died in 1982. His best works hang in the Cuban collection of Havana's Museo de Bellas Artes.
Calle San Ignacio 22, Havana, La Habana, 10100, Cuba
Havana's oldest church (circa 1638) was built by Afro-Cubans who were brought to the island as slaves but who later bought their freedom, a common phenomenon in Cuba. Fittingly, today it's the only church in the city authorized to grant political asylum. Its interior has several notable paintings; notice especially the representation of a seated, post-Crucifixion Christ on the right wall. The crypt under the left of the altar contains catacombs. The three-story belfry to the left of the church is one of La Habana Vieja's tallest towers.
Although originally founded in 1640 as the Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Buen Viaje, the present church was built in 1755. The advocation to the buen viaje (good voyage) was a result of its popularity among seafarers in need of a patron and a place to pray for protection. The Baroque facade is notable for the simplicity of its twin hexagonal towers and the deep flaring arch in its entryway. Traditionally the final stop on the Vía Crucis (Way of the Cross) held during Lent, the church and its plaza have an intimate and informal charm. This is the plaza where Graham Greene's character Wormold (the vacuum-cleaner salesman/secret agent) is "swallowed up among the pimps and lottery sellers of the Havana noon" in Our Man in Havana. Don't miss the view from the corner of Amargura: you can see straight down Villegas to the dome of the old Palacio Presidencial (Presidential Palace).
Plaza del Cristo, Havana, La Habana, 10100, Cuba
7863–1767
Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, During Masses (daily at 10 and 5)
Although it was begun in 1755, this church and convent complex wasn't completed until the 19th century. Hence you can clearly see a progression of architectural styles, particularly in the facade, with its six starchy-white pillars and its combination of late-Baroque and early-Neoclassical elements. Inside are numerous works by 19th-century Cuban painters.
Calle de Cuba 806, Havana, La Habana, 10100, Cuba
7863–8873
Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Mon.–Sat. 8–noon and 3–5, Sun. 8–2
This old gun shop, and now gun museum, contains the vast personal arms collection of Fidel Castro, as well as other weapons used during the Revolution. There is also a small permanent exhibition detailing the events of April 9, 1958, when Castro and his people attempted a general strike.
Calle Mercaderes 157, Havana, La Habana, 10100, Cuba
This still functioning Art Nouveau pharmacy may sometimes be short on drugs, but it is certainly long on design. Founded by a Catalan apothecary in 1874, it was built in the elaborate Modernist style universally favored by 19th-century pharmacies. The carved wooden racks and shelves backed by murals painted on glass are especially ornate, and the ceramic apothecary jars, though probably empty, are colorfully painted. Also known as La Reunión (note the inscription on the wall behind the counter), this pharmacy was a famous meeting place, a sort of informal neighborhood clubhouse.
Calle Brasil (Teniente Rey) 251, Havana, La Habana, Cuba
This small museum, housed above a tobacco and cigar shop, provides insight into Cuba's tobacco culture, as well as the history of tobacco within the country. There's a good exhibit on the growing of the tobacco plant and also collections of vintage lighters and old cigar advertisements. Entry is free, but a guided tour is recommended to get the most out of your visit (it requires a small donation).
Calle Mercaderes 120, Havana, La Habana, 10100, Cuba
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