Havana is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. The city has a population of 2.3 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 728.26 km2 (281.18 sq mi) – making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region.
The Basílica Menor of San Francisco de Asís is a Franciscan convent in the district of Old Havana, Cuba. Its construction began in 1548 and lasted until 1591, although it was inaugurated in 1575, it was badly damaged by storms in 1680 and 1692, and by a hurricane that broke down its tower in 1694. Started in its current form in 1716, it was completely completed almost 200 years later, with a series of structural reforms from 1731 to 1738.
The Museum of the Revolution is located in the Old Havana section of Havana, Cuba, in what was the Presidential Palace of all Cuban presidents from Mario García Menocal to Fulgencio Batista. The building became the Museum of the Revolution during the years following the Cuban Revolution. The palace building was attacked by the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil in 1957.
Vedado is a central business district and urban neighborhood in the city of Havana, Cuba. Bordered on the east by Calzada de Infanta and Central Havana, and on the west by the Alemendares River and Miramar / Playa district, Vedado is a more modern part of the city than the areas to the east, developed in the first half of the 20th century, during the Republic period. In 2016 it was described by one commentator as the city's "most affluent" section. The main street running east to west is Calle 23, also known as "La Rampa". The northern edge of the district is the waterfront seawall known as the Malecón, a famous and popular place for social gatherings in the city. The area popularly referred to as 'Vedado' consists of the wards of Vedado, Rampa, Vedado-Malecón and Carmelo, all in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución.
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 Cristóbal 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.
Gran Teatro de La Habana is a theater in Havana, Cuba, home to the Cuban National Ballet. It was designed by the Belgian architect Paul Belau and built by Purdy and Henderson, Engineers in 1914 at the site of the former Teatro Tacón. Its construction was paid for by the Galician immigrants of Havana to serve as a community-social center. Located in the Paseo del Prado, its facilities include theatres, a concert hall, conference rooms, a video screening room, as well as an art gallery, a choral center and several rehearsal halls for dance companies. It hosts the International Ballet Festival of Havana every two years since 1960.
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.
In architecture, a parti is an organizing thought or decision behind an architect's design, presented in the form of a parti diagram, parti sketch, or a simple statement. The term comes from 15th century French, in which "parti pris" meant "decision taken."
La Rampa is a main street in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. La Rampa runs from Calle L to the Malecón. Built in 1930, the end was the location of the Battery of Santa Clara that protected the city from attack.
The FOCSA Building is a residential and commercial block in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana, Cuba. At 121 meters (397 ft), it is the tallest building in Cuba. It was named after the contracting company Fomento de Obras y Construcciones, Sociedad Anónima, and the architects were Ernesto Gómez Sampera (1921–2004), Mercedes Diaz, and Martín Domínguez Esteban (1897-1970), who was the architect of the Radiocentro CMQ Building. The structural engineer was Luis Sáenz Duplace, of the firm Sáenz, Cancio & Martín, and professor of engineering at the University of Havana. The civil engineers were Bartolome Bestard and Manuel Padron. Gustavo Becquer and Fernando H.Meneses were the mechanical and electrical engineers, respectively. It is located on a site bordered by Calles 17 and M and Calles 19 and N in the Vedado.
The following is a timeline of the history of Havana, Cuba.
Purdy and Henderson was a New York City-based engineering firm founded by Corydon Tyler Purdy and Lightner Henderson. They were active in the United States and Cuba between 1890 and 1944.
The Radiocentro CMQ Building complex is a former radio and television production facility and office building at the intersection of Calle L and La Rampa in El Vedado, Cuba. It was modeled after Raymond Hood's 1933 Rockefeller Center in New York City. With 1,650 seats, the theater first opened on December 23, 1947, under the name Teatro Warner Radiocentro, it was owned by brothers Goar and Abel Mestre. Today the building serves as the headquarters of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT).
The Edificio del Seguro Médico is a commercial building in El Vedado, Havana. Built between 1955 and 1958, it was designed as a mixed use building for apartments and offices for the headquarters of the National Medical Insurance Company by Antonio Quintana Simonetti.
The Plaza del Vapor was a covered market in Havana. Its name derives from its builder Francisco Martí who became later the impresario of the Tacón Theatre and who had a monopoly of fish trade in the city. Martí had a painting placed against a wall from a bar of the ship El Neptuno, the first vapor that made regular round trips between Havana and Matanzas. "It was the image of that ship that ended up naming the building." From the Plaza del Vapor, Martí sold 50% of all the lottery tickets. in Cuba.
Plaza de San Francisco de Asís is a public square in the district of Old Havana, Havana, Cuba.
Faure Chomón Mediavilla was a Cuban historian and politician. He was one of the founding members and leaders of the Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil. After the triumph of the Revolution he joined Fidel Castro's government. Early in his career, he served as the Secretary of Communication and Transportation and Ambassador to the Soviet Union. Later he served as Ambassador to Vietnam and Ecuador as well as historian of the Revolution. He was also member of the National Assembly of People's Power from 1976 to his death.
The Alameda de Paula is a promenade in Havana, Cuba, it was the first to be built in the city designed by Antonio Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar.
Antonio Luis Quintana Simonetti was a Cuban architect and a forerunner of Modern architecture in Havana. Quintana graduated from the University of Havana in 1944, among his works are some of the most important modernist buildings in the capital. Dissatisfied as a student with the classical canons, Antonio Quintana participated in 1944 in the so-called "Burning of Vignola" in the courtyard of the School of Architecture of the University of Havana. From this date forward, he began to study the precepts of contemporary architecture. He graduated as an architect in the same year.
