Idea #305 – Visiting the city of La Habana
Havana (in Spanish: Habana, Ciudad de La Habana officially) is the capital of Cuba. The city counts 2,4 million inhabitants, what makes it most big city of the Caribbean. The city was founded in 1515, by the conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, in a different location, who does not stop evolving during the years which follow. The definitive establishment of Havana in the current location dates 1519. It is commemorated by the monument El Templete.
The site was used as the annual assembly point of the fleets of the treasure from Mexico and from Peru and heading for Spain, and quickly becomes the entry point of the vast Spanish colonial empire. The city is reduced to ash in 1538 and 1555 by the pirates. In 1592, king Philippe II of Spain grants in Havana the city status. In 1607, Havana is described as capital of the island by a Royal Order, and a royal decree of 1634 re-knows its importance by indicating it officially ” as Key of the New World and Rampart of the Caribbean “.
A fort is built in 1760, while the war of Spet Ans extends from Europe to America. Havana inherited a lot from the Spanish colonial architecture. Its architecture remained protected from the devastation of the modernism and buildings, in colors watered down by time, are so many testimonies of the magnificence of the Spanish imprint. Barocco buildings and of neo-classic style form homogeneous group of private houses, with balconies, railings, arches and inner courtyards. What does not prevent a part of the city, not restored, from being in a state of advanced decay, consequence of the American blocus decreed since 1962 and what has just come to an end.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
La Habana, Cuba Island
Larger Map