| La Alameda de Paula | |
|---|---|
 Alameda de Paula, 1947 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Promenade |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical |
| Location | Havana Vieja |
| Town or city |  Ciudad de La Habana |
| Country |  Cuba |
| Coordinates | 23°07′56″N82°20′53″W / 23.1323°N 82.3480°W Coordinates: 23°07′56″N82°20′53″W / 23.1323°N 82.3480°W |
The Alameda de Paula is a promenade in Havana, Cuba, and was the first to be built in the city.
The Alameda de Paula was commissioned by Captain General (Spanish : Capitanía General de Cuba) Felipe de Fons de Viela, member of the court of King Carlos III. It was built by architect Antonio Fernández de Trebejos in 1777. The site of the old Rincón refuse dump, initially the promenade was a dirt track with some benches and flanked by two rows of poplar trees. [1] It was given the name Alameda de Paula because of its proximity to the Hospital and Iglesia of San Francisco de Paula which had been built in 1664. An ornamented marble fountain was built in 1847. Between 1803 and 1805 the pavement was tiled, a fountain and stone benches, lampposts and the marble column were added, it qualified as a pleasant entertainment for the residents of the Villa de San Cristóbal, lacking recreational sites at that time. The Alameda de Paula became one of Havana's most important social and cultural spaces and the model of the Paseo del Prado designed in 1925 by Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier.
![Frederic Mialhe_Album pintoresco de la Isla de Cuba. Showing Alameda de Paula [1] with the Hospital and Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula. 1840. It was given the name Alameda de Paula because of its proximity to the old Hospital and Iglesia of San Francisco de Paula. Frederic Mialhe Album pintoresco de la Isla de Cuba.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Mialhe_%C3%81lbum_pintoresco_de_la_Isla_de_Cuba.jpg/330px-Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Mialhe_%C3%81lbum_pintoresco_de_la_Isla_de_Cuba.jpg)
The Alameda de Paula became one of Havana's most important social and cultural spaces, it was the model of the Paseo del Prado designed in 1925 by Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier. It was given the name Alameda de Paula because of its proximity to the old Hospital and Iglesia of San Francisco de Paula. Between 1803 and 1805 the pavement was tiled, a fountain and stone benches, lampposts and the marble column were added, it qualified as a pleasant entertainment for the residents of the Villa de San Cristóbal, lacking recreational sites at that time.
The promenade was the subject of various transformations in the course of the 19th century; the embankment was tiled, a fountain was located there and the back of the seats was latticed. By that time it was considered the most popular and busiest place in the city. Toilets were built which increased its popularity. In the 1940s, squares were drawn at its ends, widened, and provided with access stairs and seats, street lamps were updated. [2]
In 1841, the stairs that gave access to the promenade were widened and several lampposts were added. In the year 2000, the Havana promenade was restored and extended until it reached the Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula. [3]
The Coliseum was the first building erected in Havana to provide theatrical performances, it opened its doors on January 20, 1775. It was located in front of the Alameda de Paula between Calles Acosta, Oficios, and Luz, in Old Havana. Built between 1773 and 1775, the initiative for the creation of the theater came from the Marquis de la Torre, who managed to gather on July 2, 1773, the most important merchants and the main personalities of the city with the aim of raising funds for the construction of the building. Shortly after, work began on the masonry and wood building, directed by the Havana architect Antonio Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar; in the year 1775, it was announced that on the 20th of that current month, the performance of comedies would begin in the new Coliseum. [4]
Havana is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana province, Havana is the country's main port and leading commercial center. The city has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 781.58 km2 (301.77 sq mi) – making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region.
Havana Cathedral is one of eleven Catholic cathedrals on the island. It is located in the Plaza de la Catedral on Calle Empedrado, between San Ignacio y Mercaderes, Old Havana. The thirty by forty-nine meters rectangular church serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Cristobal de la Habana. Christopher Columbus’ remains were kept in the cathedral between 1796 and 1898 before they were taken to Seville Cathedral.
El Capitolio, or the National Capitol Building, is a public edifice in Havana, the capital of Cuba. The building was commissioned by Cuban president Gerardo Machado and built from 1926 to 1929 under the direction of Eugenio Rayneri Piedra. It is located on the Paseo del Prado, Dragones, Industria, and San José streets in the exact center of Havana.
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Cristobal de la Habana is one of three Catholic archdioceses in Cuba.
La Mansión de Mark Pollack, is a neo-classical, Florentine mansion in the Cubanacan Section of Havana, Cuba built in 1930 by the Cuban architect, Leonardo Morales y Pedroso (1887–1965). It is located at 21st street #15001, Cubanacan, Havana, Cuba. It was built for Mark Alexander Pollack (1874–1946),the son of Alexander Pollack and Belle A. Rothschild (1848-1936), the American-born patriarch of a wealthy Cuban tobacco exporter. The house covers an area of 13,000 square meters.
Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier was a French landscape architect who trained with Adolphe Alphand and became conservator of the promenades of Paris.
The Palacio de los Capitanes Generales is the former official residence of the governors of Havana, Cuba. Located on the eastern side of the Plaza de Armas in Old Havana it is home to the Museum of the City of Havana. It houses exhibitions of art and historical artefacts and many of the rooms are preserved with their original Colonial decoration.
Paseo del Prado, is a promenade in Havana, Cuba near the old city wall, and the division between Centro Habana and Old Havana. Technically, the Paseo del Prado includes the entire length of Paseo Martí approximately from the Malecon to Calle Máximo Gómez, the Fuente de la India fountain. The promenade has had several names, it was renamed Paseo de Martí in 1898 with the island's independence from Spain. Despite the historic references, the people of Havana simply call it "El Prado."
Fuente de la India is a fountain by Giuseppe Gaggini in Havana, Cuba, at the south extreme of Paseo del Prado, about 100 m south of El Capitolio, between Monte and Dragones Streets. The figure represents the Indian woman "Habana" in whose honor Havana was named.
The following is a timeline of the history of Havana, Cuba.
The Parque Central, Havana is one of the best known and central sites of the city of Havana, Cuba. It is located between Prado, Neptuno, Zulueta and San José streets, and San Rafael Boulevard. Among the buildings surrounding the park are Gran Teatro de La Habana, the Hotel Inglaterra, the Hotel Telégrafo, el Hotel Parque Central, la Manzana de Gómez, the Hotel Plaza and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.
The Iglesia del Espíritu Santo at #161 Calle Acosta was built in 1635 on the corner of the corner of Calles Cuba and Acosta by a fraternity of Afro-Cuban ex slaves. The Espíritu Santo contains some notable paintings including a seated, post-crucifixion Christ on the right wall, and catacombs. It is considered one of the oldest temples in Havana and it is said that its main interest lies essentially in the simplicity or simplicity of the beautiful stone construction.
The Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula, Havana is part of the ecclesiastical heritage of Havana. It is located at 110 Calle Leonor Pérez on the corner of Calle San Ignacio. It is near the bay on the south side of Havana Vieja."
The Paseo de Tacón, or Paseo Militar, was created by the Captain General Miguel Tacón y Rosique (1834–1838) who promoted the reform of the “road” that, starting from the calles of San Luis de Gonzaga (Reina) and Belascoáin, connected to the Castillo del Príncipe. Calle Belascoáin was the edge between the city and the countryside.
The paseo marítimo of Pontevedra is a pedestrian way along the seafront facing the ria of Pontevedra, in Pontevedra, Spain. This coastal public space is built in the urban and semi-urban area of the city and defines its encounter with the sea and the Lérez river.
The Hotel Pasaje was located on Paseo del Prado between San José and Dragones, facing the National Capitol.
The Cuartel de Milicias was the largest barracks in the city of Havana in the 18th century. Conceived as the headquarters of the militia battalions that at that time were classified according to their member's skin color, white, or brown.
Antonio Fernandez de Trebejos and Zaldivar was an 18th-century architect, colonel of engineers in the Spanish army, author of some of the most notable Havana buildings of the colonial era.
The Coliseum was the first building erected in Havana to provide theatrical performances, it opened its doors on January 20, 1775. It was located in front of the Alameda de Paula between Calles Acosta, Oficios, and Luz, in Old Havana.
During the intervention of the United States government in Cuba (1898-1902), in order to beautify the new coastline of the Malecón, honor the medical students, widen the Paseo del Prado, and serve as a roundabout for the Malecón a kind of pavilion was built to house the evening concerts of the Municipal Band.
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