Jai-alai fronton | |
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![]() Calles Concordia and Lucenas | |
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Alternative names | Palacio de los gritos |
General information | |
Status | Abandoned, partly destroyed |
Type | Sports |
Architectural style | Neo classical |
Location | 421 Concordia and Lucena |
Town or city | Havana |
Country | Cuba |
Coordinates | 23°08′18″N82°22′17″W / 23.1382°N 82.3714°W |
Inaugurated | 10 March 1901 |
Closed | 1 January 1959 |
Owner | Mazzatini brothers |
Height | |
Tip | 70 feet (21 m) |
Top floor | 40 feet (12 m) |
Technical details | |
Structural system | Concrete, masonry, metal columns, metal trusses |
Material | Concrete, masonry infill |
Size | 140 ft × 227.5 ft (42.7 m × 69.3 m) |
Floor count | 3 |
Floor area | 31,850 sq ft (2,959 m2) |
Known for | Havana jai alai |
There is an abandoned Jai alai court [1] in the back of the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital, the site of the old Casa de Beneficencia, on Calles Concordia and Lucenas near Calle Belascoain, an area that had been considered in the early part of the city as a place to locate the helpless and the unwanted (Casa de Beneficencia, Hospital de San Lázaro, the Espada Cemetery, Casa de Dementes de San Dionisio), it was the edge of the city and the countryside known as the "basurero"; [2] the spectator stands were parallel to Calle Concordia, the front wall of the court faced Calle Lucenas, east in the direction towards Old Havana. The original building has been annexed by five stories of residential concrete construction on the north side along Calle Virtudes. [3] The Havana Jai alai fronton was known as "the palace of screams" (Spanish: el palacio de los gritos). [4]
In April 1898, the Mazzatini brothers made their first request to erect a building for Jai Alai and was approved, the Cuban War of Independence, however, delayed the process. In 1900 the Mazzatini brothers returned to the project, this time they received all the facilities from the municipal government, leaving the final approval of said approval in the hands of Colonel of the North American Army of intervention Dudley. The Havana Jai Alai Fronton, promoted by the Mazzantini brothers, was inaugurated in 1901 through their lawyer Basilio Sarasqueta with the support of Spanish fans. The military man refused up to 3 times, stating that it was impossible for him to sign a ten-year contract that would assign civil government land for private use. [5] On March 3, 1901, the Jai Alai frontón was inaugurated on a plot of land bounded by the Calles Concordia y Lucena. [1] [6]
Was the name by which the fans, and the rest of the population of Havana, knew the fronton of Jai-Alai, on the other hand, the players called it "El Matadero" (the killing field), because of how extreme it was to play there; the level and pressure were so high that for years it was considered the center of Basque pelota in America. [5]
The term Jai Alai to refer to Basque pelota is attributed to Pío Baroja, who, when watching a game, called it "Jai Alai" (happy game in Basque). On the other hand, the term "Palacio de los Gritos" is attributed to Víctor Muñoz, a journalist of the time who Spanishized numerous terms in American and European sports. [5] The interest in attracting new bettors was efficient and the Palace of Screams became even more hysterical, the players tried to listen to their personal bettors, those close to the track yelling at them where to shoot to fool their rivals. Of course, everyone yelled at his own, and at the bettors who went from one side of the stands to the other, making it impossible to understand the tactical instructions. [5]
Among the visitors is Ernest Hemingway, [lower-alpha 1] some photos attest to this, who made a great friendship with Guillermo Amuchastegui, the Ondarroa phenomenon, who became a regular in Havana who made a great friendship with Guillermo Amuchastegui, the Ondarroa phenomenon, who became a regular in Havana's high society of the time. It was not uncommon to see a multitude of ladies of the time go to the fronton with their best clothes. Another fan of the Palace of Screams was Babe Ruth who according to the gossips left about $10,000 in gambling and an injury for trying to play the "fastest sport in the world" as the press called the top basket. [5]
The Basques exported the game from ca. 1800 to all parts of the world including the Americas. Jai alai (/ˈhaɪ.əlaɪ/: [ˈxai aˈlai]) is normally played with a ball that is bounced off of the floor and three walls accelerated to high speeds with a wicker hand-held device called a (Cesta). A sport played in Spain, southwest of France and Latin American countries, it is a variation of Basque pelota, a term, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton (the open-walled playing area) where the sport is played. The game is called "zesta-punta" (basket tip) in Basque.
The court for jai alai consists of walls on the front, back and left, and the floor between them. If the ball (called a pelota in Spanish, pilota in Standard Basque) touches the floor outside these walls, it is considered out of bounds. Similarly, there is also a border on the lower 3 feet (0.9 m) of the front wall that is also out of bounds. The ceiling on the court is usually very high, so the ball has a more predictable path. The court is divided by 14 parallel lines going horizontally across the court, with line 1 closest to the front wall and line 14 the back wall. In doubles, each team consists of a frontcourt player and a backcourt player. The game begins when the frontcourt player of the first team serves the ball to the second team. The winner of each point stays on the court to meet the next team in rotation. Losers go to the end of the line to await another turn on the court. The first team to score 7 points (or 9 in Superfecta games) wins. The next highest scores are awarded "place" (second) and "show" (third) positions, respectively. Playoffs decide tied scores.
A jai alai game is played in round robin format, usually between eight teams of two players each or eight single players. The first team to score 7 or 9 points wins the game. Two of the eight teams are in the court for each point. The server on one team must bounce the ball behind the serving line, then with the cesta "basket" hurl it towards the front wall so it bounces from there to between lines 4 and 7 on the floor. The ball is then in play. The ball used in jai alai is hand crafted and consists of metal strands tightly wound together and then wrapped in goat skin. Teams alternate catching the ball in their (also hand crafted) cesta and throwing it "in one fluid motion" without holding or juggling it. The ball must be caught either on the fly or after bouncing once on the floor. A team scores a point if an opposing player:
The team scoring a point remains in the court and the opposing team rotates off the court to the end of the list of opponents. Points usually double after the first round of play, once each team has played at least one point. When a game is played with points doubling after the first round, this is called "Spectacular Seven" scoring.
The players frequently attempt a "chula" shot, where the ball is played off the front wall very high, then reaches the bottom of the back wall by the end of its arc. The bounce off the bottom of the back wall can be very low, and the ball is very difficult to return in this situation.
Since there is no wall on the right side, all jai alai players must play right-handed (wear the cesta on their right hand), as the spin of a left-handed hurl would send the ball toward the open right side. [7]
The players frequently attempt a "chula" shot, where the ball is played off the front wall very high, then reaches the bottom of the back wall by the end of its arc. The bounce off the bottom of the back wall can be very low, and the ball is very difficult to return in this situation.
Since there is no wall on the right side, all jai alai players must play right-handed (wear the Cesta on their right hand), as the spin of a left-handed hurl would send the ball toward the open right side. [7]
The Basque government promotes jai alai as "the fastest sport in the world" because of the speed of the ball. The sport once held the world record for ball speed with a 125–140 g ball covered with goatskin that traveled at 302 km/h (188 mph), performed by José Ramón Areitio at the Newport, Rhode Island Jai Alai, until it was broken by Canadian 5-time long drive champion Jason Zuback on a 2007 episode of Sport Science with a golf ball speed of 328 km/h (204 mph). [8] The sport can be dangerous, as the ball travels at high velocities. It has led to injuries that caused players to retire and fatalities have been recorded in some cases. [9] [10]
The original building is 140 ft × 227 ft (43 m × 69 m), five stories of residential concrete construction has been annexed on the Northside (along the exterior of the left wall of the jai alai court) along Calle Virtudes. [3] Carlos Martínez, a music producer and a neighbor who has the keys to the fronton states that: "between 1930 and 1950, this Havana Jai Alai court was perhaps the most important fronton in the world." [lower-alpha 2] [6]
Jeu de paume, nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or courte paume, is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, and so "game of the hand", though these were eventually introduced. It is a former Olympic sport, and has the oldest ongoing annual world championship in sport, first established over 250 years ago. The term also refers to the court on which the game is played and its building, which in the 17th century was sometimes converted into a theatre.
Jai alai is a sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker cesta. It is a variation of Basque pelota. The term jai alai, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton where matches take place. The game, whose name means "merry festival" in Basque, is called cesta-punta in the Basque Country. The sport is played worldwide, but especially in Spain, France, and in various Latin American countries.
American handball, known as handball in the United States and sometimes referred to as wallball, is a sport in which players use their hands to hit a small, rubber ball against a wall such that their opponent(s) cannot do the same without the ball touching the ground twice or hitting out-of-bound. The three versions are four-wall, three-wall and one-wall. Each version can be played either by two players (singles), three players (cutthroat) or four players (doubles), but in official tournaments, singles and doubles are the only versions played.
Basque pelota is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall or, more traditionally, with two teams face to face separated by a line on the ground or a net. The roots of this class of games can be traced to the Greek and other ancient cultures.
Paleta frontón is a Peruvian sport that was born in the capital, Lima, in 1945. This sport has its roots in the "pelota vasca" brought by the Spanish settlers, and the domestic "pelota mano", called "handball" at that time due to English influence. The sport is similar to squash but is played on an open court.
Valencian pilota is a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community. Its origins are not known.
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Frontó is a modified Valencian pilota version of the original Basque Pelota game. The name frontó refers both to the game, ball and the playing area. Unlike some of the more popular Valencian Pilota rules, frontó is an indirect game, that is, players do not stand face-to-face but share a common playing area.
One-wall handball, also known as 1-wall, wallball or international fronton, is an indirect style of a ball game where the player hits a small rubber ball with their hand against a wall. The goal of the game is to score more points than the opponent. The player then hits the ball, and the ball bounces off the wall and the floor within court lines, if the opponent fails to return the ball, the player scores a point. The sport was created to bring varieties, such as American handball, Basque pelota, Patball, Gaelic handball, Pêl-Law and Valencian frontó.
The Espada Cemetery was located in the Barrio of San Lazaro approximately a mile west of the city walls, near the cove of Juan Guillen and close to the San Lázaro Leper Hospital. In use from 1806 to 1878, the Espada Cemetery was the first public burial place designed and constructed in Havana; prior to the cemetery, the Havana custom had been to bury the dead in the vaults of the churches such as Iglesia del Espíritu Santo in Havava Vieja. It was named after the Bishop incumbent at the time of design, José Díaz de Espada y Landa. Its boundaries included the present streets of San Lázaro, Vapor, Espada, and Aramburu. Despite being officially called Campo Santo, the people of Havana referred to the cemetery as el Cementerio de Espada. The cemetery was closed in 1878 and demolished in 1908, only a small wall remains of the original structure.
A fronton is a two-walled or single-walled court used as a playing area for Basque pelota.
The Beti Jai fronton is a sport venue located in Madrid, Spain.
Pelota Mano Court is a heritage-listed sports ground at Trebonne Road, Trebonne, Shire of Hinchinbrook, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Ford, Hutton & Newell and built in 1959 by Idillio Quartero and Ken Duffy. It is also known as Basque Handball Court and Fronton (court). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 July 2001.
Cayo Hueso is a consejo popular (ward) in the municipality of Centro Habana, Havana, Cuba. A traditionally working-class neighborhood populated by Afro-Cubans, it is known for its many cultural landmarks such as the Callejón de Hamel, the Fragua Martiana Museum and the Parque de los Mártires Universitarios.
La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad de La Habana, was for 270 years Havana's repository of Havana's unwanted children. The House of Charity started during a time when Cuba was experiencing extreme poverty, unemployment, and corruption in the government. Corrupt leaders were plundering the public treasury and little attention was given to social assistance, health, education, or the protection of the poor: "los desamparados".
Hospital de San Lázaro was a hospital in the city of Havana, Cuba. It dates back to the 17th century, when it served as headquarters for some huts built near the Caleta de Juan Guillén, then known as Caleta de San Lázaro, in an area about a mile outside the city walls.
Barrio de San Lázaro is one of the first neighbourhoods in Havana, Cuba. It initially occupied the area bounded by Calle Infanta to the west, Calle Zanja to the south, Calle Belascoáin to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the north, forming the western edge of Centro Habana. According to the 1855 Ordenanzas Municipales of the city of Havana, Barrio San Lázaro was the Tercer Distrito and was Barrio No. 8.
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.
Arcabuco was the name of a footpath starting in Old Havana, in the vicinity of the church of Loma del Ángel, and ran in a westerly direction to an inlet cove of approximately 93 metres (305 ft) wide and 5.5 metres (18 ft) in depth. When Juan Guillén a Spanish soldier installed a carpentry shop to build small boats close to the cove the site became known as “La Caleta de Juan Guillén”, the road was known as “the caleta”. Eventually the Hospital de San Lázaro, the Espada Cemetery, the San Dionisio mental asylum, and La Casa de Beneficencia were developed in close proximity to the Caleta de San Lazaro.
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Since the 1920s at least four players have been killed by an jai alai ball...