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This article is about the Cuban capital city. For other places named Havana, please see Havana (disambiguation)

Template:Cuba town infobox Havana (Spanish in full: Ciudad de La Habana ("City of Havana"), usually shortened to just La Habana, and formerly named San Cristóbal de la Habana; UN/LOCODE: CU HAV) is the capital of Cuba and, with a population of more than 2.2 million, is the largest city of both Cuba and the Caribbean. It is located just over 90 miles (144 km) south-southwest of Key West, Florida. Ciudad de la Habana is also one of the 14 provinces of Cuba. It is located on the northwest coast of Cuba, facing the Straits of Florida, and is surrounded by the province of Havana to the south, east, and west.

History

File:Map of Havana.jpg
1888 German map of Havana

Foundation

The current Havana area and its natural bay were first visited by Europeans during Sebastián de Ocampo's circumnavigation of the island, on 1509[1]. Shortly thereafter, on 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. Before the foundation of Havana, in its current emplacement, the city had, between 1514 and 1519, at least two different establishments: that of 1514, which in one of the first maps of Cuba, places the town in the mouth of the river Onicaxinal, on the south coast of Cuba; another establishment was La Chorrera, which is today in the neighbourhood of Puentes Grandes, next to the Almendares River, which the Indians called Casiguaguas. The last one, 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, the patron saint of Havana, and Habana, patrimony of dark origins that could derive from Habaguanex, name of an Indian chief that controlled that area, quoted by Diego Velasquez in his relation to the king of Spain. A legend narrates that Habana was the name of Habaguanex's beautiful daughter [1], but no known historical source corroborates this version.

La Fuerza fortress

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 of 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...[1]

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, but 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. The pirate had taken Havana with only two caravels, plundering the city and murdering 30 elders and blacks that were in prisoned, after limiting the scarce defenders which at that time the incipient city had, De Sores left without obtaining the enormous wealths that 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 on commerce with the West Indies and limit the extensive contrabando (black market) that developed due to the trade restrictions imposed by the Casa de Contratación of Seville, the crown-controlled trading house that owned the monopoly of trade with the New World.

To counteract pirate attacks on Galleon convoys headed for Spain loaded with prized 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 fleet could receive better coverage by the Spanish Armada. Following a king's decree in 1561, all ships headed for Spain were required to join this fleet in the Havana Bay. Ships arrived from May to August, waiting for the best weather conditions, and the fleet departed Havana towards Spain by September.

This boosted commerce and development of the adjacent city of Havana (just 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 the New World carried products to Havana, so that they could be embarked on the fleet to Spain. The thousands of ships gathered in the city's bay also fueled Havana's agriculture and manufacture, as they had to be supplied with food, water and a number of other products in order to traverse the Ocean.

On 1563, the Capitán General (the Spanish Governor of the island) moved from Santiago de Cuba to Havana due to that city's newly gained wealth and importance, unofficially sanctioning its status of Capital of the island. On December 20, 1592, King Philip II of Spain grants Havana the title of City. Later, the city will be officially designated as "Key of 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 were carried on. The San Juan de la Punta castle guarded the west entrance of the bay, while the Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro guarded the east 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 more defensive towers, La Chorrera and San Lázaro were built in this period, as well.

Havana in the 17th and 18th Centuries

File:TeatroGarciaLorca.jpg
Gran Teatro de La Habana Garcia Lorca

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. 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: that of the Real Force, of Three Santos Reyes Magos del Morro and San Salvador de la Punta. The shield also displayed a symbolic golden key to represent the title of "Key of the Gulf". On 1674, the works for the City Walls were started, as part of the fortification efforts. They would be completed on 1740.

In the middle of the 18th century, Havana, which by now had more than seventy thousand inhabitants, was seized by the British navy. The city was subsequently governed by Sir George Keppel on behalf of Great Britain. The episode began on June 6, 1762, when at dawn, an impressive British fleet, containing more than fifty ships and fourteen thousand men, drew into Cuban waters. The British seized the city as part of the Seven Years' War, opening it to free trade and bringing thousands of enslaved Africans to the island. In the middle of 1763, only a year after its invasion, the British returned Havana to the Spanish in exchange for Florida.

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 which the San Nazario and Doce Apóstoles batteries) ensured no points of 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 from Spanish territory on 1767. On 1788, it formally became a Cathedral. Between 1789 and 1790 Cuba was apportioned into individual diocese by the 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 transfered to Seville's Cathedral, after Spain's loss of Cuba.

Havana's shipyards (named El Arsenal) were extremely active at the time, thanks to the wood resources available in the vicinity of the city. Several Havana-built ships served in the Spanish Armada, among them the Santísima Trinidad, Armada's largest warship. Launched in 1769, she was about 62 meters long, had three decks and 120 cannons (she was later upgraded to as much as 144 cannons and four decks). She was sunk during the Battle of Trafalgar, on 1805. This ship costed 40.000 pesos fuertes of the time, which gives an idea of the importance the Arsenal, by comparing its cost to the 26 million pesos fuertes and 109 ships produced during Arsenal's existence [2].

Havana in the 19th Century

As trade between Caribbean and North American states increased in the early 19th century, Havana became a flourishing and fashionable city. Havana's theatres received the most distinguished actors of the age, and prosperity amongst the burgeoning middle-class led to new expensive 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 stretch of railroad was constructed, of 51 km, between Havana and Bejucal, which was used for transporting sugar from the valley of Guines to the port of the city. 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 extended. At the end of the century, the well-off classes moved to the quarter of the Vedado. Later, they emigrated towards Miramar, and today, increasingly on the west, they have settled in Siboney. At the end of the 19th century Havana saw the last moments of the Spanish colonization 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.

Museum of the Revolution

Republican Period

Under American influence, the city grew and prospered with numerous buildings in the 1930s, when sumptuous hotels, casinos and splendid night clubs were constructed. Santos Traficante took the roulette of the Sans-Souci, Meyer Lansky directed the Riviera, and Lucky Luciano, the National Casino. Before the hotels and restaurants, the Cadillac, Chevrolet and Buick park in triple line waiting, to the buttons. At that time Havana became an exotic capital of gambling and corruption. 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: both gangsters and stars were known to mix socially in the city.

The Revolution

After the revolution in 1959 big transformations occurred, principally affecting the services and the construction of social housing and official buildings, but, as for the topography of Havana, it is possible to keep on describing in accordance with the same big areas of 1958. In 1991, the Pan American Games were held in Havana.

General

El Vedado, Havana's downtown district

Havana City is the smallest of the Cuban provinces, but the most populated. There are different architectonic styles in the city, from houses of the XVII to modern constructions. Havana is the most important destination for tourists in Cuba and one of the most important in Latin America. It is also the main base for the government of the country, and various ministries are based in the city, as are the head offices of businesses such as Corporacion Cimex. The industries in Havana are an important part in the economy of the country. Havana’s harbor is the most important in Cuba and through it come and go half of the Cuban imports and exports.

On the night of July 8-9, 2005, the eastern suburbs of the city took a direct hit from Hurricane Dennis, and in October 2005, the coastal regions suffered severe flooding following Hurricane Wilma.

Old Havana

Main article: Old Havana

Old Havana is the richest colonial set of Latin America. The narrow streets of the old Havana contain many buildings of historical and cultural significance, accounting for perhaps as many as one-third of the approximately 3,000 buildings found in Old Havana. is the ancient city formed from the port, the official center and the Plaza de Armas. It remembers nostalgically to Cadiz and Tenerife. It is the city that Alejo Carpentier called "de las columnas"(of the columns), but that also can be named of the gateways, the revoco, the deterioration and the rescue, the intimacy, the shade, the cool, the courtyards... In her there are all the big ancient monuments, the forts, the convents and churches, the palaces, the alleys, the arcade, the human density. The Cuban State realizes enormous efforts to preserve and to restore the Old Havana, by means of the Office of the Historian of the City, directed by Mister Eusebio Leal. Old Havana and its fortifications, inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982.

Old Havana Landmarks

File:Hotel plaza.jpg
Historical Hotel Plaza in Old Havana
  • Malecón is the avenue that runs along the seawall at the northern shore of Havana, from Habana Vieja to the Almendares River.
  • Castillo del Morro, picturesque fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay. The construction of the castle Los Tres Reyes del Morro owed to the step along in Havana of the English pirate Sir Francis Drake. The king of Spain arranged his construction on a big stone that was known by the name of El Morro, and for it he sent the field master Juan de Texeda, accompanied of the military engineer Battista Antonelli, those who came to Havana in 1587 and began at once the task.
  • La Cabaña fortress, located on the east side of the Havana bay. The most impressive fortress of the Spanish colony was La Cabaña, it impresses with its walls of the ends of the XVIIIth century constructed along with El Morro. Every night at 9 p.m., a few soldiers dressed in suits of the epoch shoot from her the “el cañonazo de las nueve”, (gunshot of the nine), it was going off every day to warn of the closing of the doors of the wall that surronded the city.
  • San Salvador de La Punta, In the shore opposite to the Castle of El Morro, at the beginning of the curve of El Malecon, there rises the fortres of San Salvador de la Punta, of minor architectural dimensions. It was constructed in 1590, and in 1629 the Chapter of Havana decided, to defend better the port, to join her in the night with the El Morro by using a thick chain that prevented the entry of enemy ships.
  • Castillo de la Real Fuerza, The castle or Real Force fortres is another big monument that closes the Plaza de las Armas. It was the first big fortification of the city, initiated in 1558 on the ruins of an ancient fortress. In the same year, the Crown sent to Cuba the engineer Bartolome Sanchez supervised by 14 official and main stonemasons in order to reconstruct the castle, which had been set fire and destroyed by the French corsair Jacques de Sores.
  • Catedral de San Cristóbal, the most prominent building on the Plaza de la Catedral. The Cathedral was raised on the chapel after 1748 by order of the bishop from Salamanca, Felipe Jose de Res Palacios. It is one of the most beautiful and sober churches of the American baroque.
  • National Capitol, styled after the U.S. Capitol.
  • Galician Center, Central Park, The Galician Center, of neobarroque style was establish as a social club of the Galician emigrants between 1907 and 1914. Built on the Theater Tacon (nowdays Great Theater of Havana), it was open during the Carnival of 1838 with five masked dances.
  • Plaza de Armas - the main touristic square. The origin of his name is obviously military, since from the ends of the XVIth century the ceremonies and the military events took place in her.
  • Gran Teatro de la Habana, The Great Theater of Havana is famous, particularly for the acclaimed National Ballet of Cuba and its founder Alicia Alonso, it also performs sometimes the National Opera. The theatre is also known as concert hall, Garcia Lorca, the biggest of Cuba.
  • The Museum of the Revolution, located in the former Presidential Palace, with the boat Granma on display in front of the museum.
  • San Francisco de Asis, Habana Vieja, The set of church and convent of San Francisco de Asis, byline of the year 1608, and it was reconstructed in 1737.

Other Landmarks in the city

  • Tropicana - tropical cabaret with a 60 year old history.
  • Necropolis Cristóbal Colón - burial grounds and open air museum[2]
  • Havana has a series of beaches spread out along the Via Blanca highway east of the city.
  • Hotel Nacional de Cuba, or the National Hotel.

Transportation

Further information: Transportation in Cuba
"Camel"
  • Buses - Havana's bus service is well used, and buses are often very crowded. The bus service operates fixed routes.
  • Camellos - These are trailers transformed into buses, known as camels, so called for their two humps. The "camel buses" usually cover the longer routes to the outskirts.
  • Colectivos - The Colectivos are taxis that operate long and fixed routes, only embarking when complete with passengers. These taxis are cheaper than the buses, and drivers wait in the surroundings of the bus stations.
  • Ferry - The passenger ferry travels to Regla and Casablanca every 10 or 15 minutes from Muelle Luz, San Pedro and Santa Clara corner, in the Southeast of Old Havana.

Municipalities

Memorial José Martí, Plaza de la Revolución. This monument dates from the time of Fulgencio Batista

The city is divided into 15 municipios - municipalities or boroughs.

  1. Arroyo Naranjo
  2. Boyeros
  3. Centro Habana
  4. Cerro
  5. Cotorro
  6. Diez de Octubre
  7. Guanabacoa
  8. La Habana del Este
  9. La Habana Vieja (Old Havana)
  10. La Lisa
  11. Marianao
  12. Playa (includes Miramar, and extends to Santa Fe in the west)
  13. Plaza de la Revolucion (sometimes abbreviated to 'Plaza'; includes Vedado)
  14. Regla
  15. San Miguel del Padrón

Sister Cities

Sports

Other images

References

  1. ^ a b Historia de la Construcción Naval en Cuba
  2. ^ Havana's magnificent necropolis tells a story of wealth and freedom
  • The Rough Guide to Cuba (3rd ed.). Rough Guides, May 2005. ISBN 1-84353-409-6.
  • Barclay, Juliet (1993). Havana: Portrait of a City. London: Cassell. ISBN 1844031276 (2003 paperback edition). — A comprehensive account of the history of Havana from the early 16th century to the end of the 19th century.
  • Carpentier, Alejo. La ciudad de las columnas (The city of columns). — A historical review of the city from one of the major authors in the iberoamerican literature, a native of this city.
  • Eguren, Gustavo. La fidelísima Habana (The very faithful Havana). — A fundamental illustrated book for those who wants to know the history of La Habana, includes chronicles, articles from natives and non natives, archives documents, and more.



23°06′54.8″N 82°23′11.3″W / 23.115222°N 82.386472°W / 23.115222; -82.386472

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