Monuments to visit La Havane

We almost didn't believe it anymore, but the Cuban Capitol reopened to the public in March 2018 after almost 10 years of restoration work! The upper part of the Capitol (the dome) underwent longer renovations, but the work was completed on time: in 2019, right in the year of the celebration of the 500 years of the foundation of Havana! The Capitol is truly one of the must-sees of Havana and Cuba. Don't miss the guided tour, it's fascinating. However, you will have to register the same day and the wait can sometimes be very long. The organization was still approximate at the time of our visit, but the wait is worth it and you will be simply amazed by this building of a rare beauty whose interior has been superbly restored!

The Capitolio Nacional (National Capitol) was built between 1926 and 1929, by order of the dictator Gerardo Machado, who wanted to reproduce the one in Washington. It was built on the grounds of Havana's first railway station. Slightly larger than its namesake, it was inaugurated with great pomp on May 20, 1929. Seat of the House of Representatives and the Senate before the revolution, it now houses the offices of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, as well as a scientific library. The vast granite staircase (39.5 m wide and 27 m long) leads to a monumental porch, where two bronze sculptures (about 7 m high and weighing 11 t) are enthroned. The one on the right represents Work, the one on the left, the Virtue of the people. They are the work of the Italian sculptor Angelo Zanelli. Behind the powerful columns, the three doors of the main entrance, also made of bronze, have bas-reliefs illustrating episodes of Cuban history: four allegories, from the pre-Columbian period to the inauguration of the Capitol. Another element of this gigantism is the dome (inspired by that of the Pantheon in Paris), 91.73 meters high. It is covered with gilded copper, which makes it visible from afar. Under the dome is one of the largest statues in the world, installed inside a building: 14 m and 30 t, due once again to the talent of Zanelli. The statue of Minerva symbolizes the Republic, in the guise of a young woman wearing a tunic and carrying a helmet, shield and lance. If the exterior is predominantly neoclassical, the interior is eclectic: an Andalusian patio, an Italian Renaissance salon, another Louis XIV style. The floors and columns are made of 58 different marbles. In the Salón de los Pasos Perdidos (the room of the lost steps), this time the reference is rather to be found in... Versailles. The room, designed for parties and official ceremonies, deserves its name: 48 meters long and 14.50 meters wide, not to mention its height. At the foot of the statue of the Republic, and in the center of the circle drawn by marble of different colors, was placed a 24-carat diamond that indicated kilometer 0 of Havana, the point from which all roads in Cuba started. As Alejo Carpentier recounts in his novel El Recurso del Método(The Methodist Remedy, Gallimard), the diamond was stolen during the presidency of Grau San Martín (1944-1948). If you want to know more, read the novel...! Let's just specify that it will be found in the private office of the president's sister-in-law. And shame on anyone who thinks badly! In the end, the authentic stone was integrated into the national heritage and remains today under good guard. The one that shines brightly at the foot of the statue is therefore fake, but it faithfully indicates Havana's kilometer 0.

During the guided tour, you will have the opportunity to discover the office of the President of the House of Representatives in imperial style and directly inspired by the Bonapartist style; it is the only French-style room in the whole Capitol and it is quite impressive. But remember that you will not be able to take pictures of it... Photos are only possible in the main hall of the Capitol. Another curiosity is the sixty bas-reliefs inlaid on the entrance doors, representing chronologically the most important events in Cuban history. You will also learn that no less than 20 kg of gold were used for all kinds of interior finishing of the building. Finally, in one of the courtyards of the Capitol there is a plaque commemorating five workers who died on the construction site.

Practical The visits are only done in groups of 15 people with a guide, in English or Spanish, and they last 45 minutes. The visiting hours are at 10:00, 11:00, 13:30, 14:30 and 15:30; on Wednesdays and Sundays, the visiting hours are at 10:30, 11:30, 13:30, 14:30 and 15:30. Please note that it is not possible to reserve a guided tour in advance. To participate in a tour, simply go to the ticket office and register for the next available tour. Registration is done at the bottom of the stairs, on the left side of the hallway (so don't go up the grand staircase for nothing because they will send you back down). The price for the guided tour is 10 € per person.

The cathedral occupies the entire side of Empedrado Street that faces the square, between San Ignacio and Mercaderes. The Jesuits began to build it in 1748, but work stopped in 1767 when they were expelled from Cuba by order of King Charles III of Spain. In 1772, the Parroquia Mayor, which had been erected in the Plaza de Armas but was reduced to dust by the explosion of the ship Invincible (anchored in the port), was moved to this square. The work was resumed and completed in 1777. Eleven years later, in 1788, the island was divided into two dioceses and the bishop Jose of Very Palacios was appointed. He transformed the oratory of Saint Ignatius into a cathedral dedicated to the Purísima Concepción. From 1946 to 1950, Cardinal Archbishop Manuel Arteaga initiated new renovations to the cathedral, in order to allow more light to enter the building, which is said to have gained in ventilation and beauty.

Today it is called Catedral de San Cristobal de La Habana, but for Cubans it is simply the cathedral. With its 35 meter façade, it is a quadrilateral with impressive dimensions. Neither the passing of time nor the tropical climate has been kind to the stone, but with the help of restoration, San Cristobal remains one of the most beautiful and imposing churches in Cuba. The façade is clearly baroque, its decoration inspired the architects of many Havana palaces. The classic French eye will not fail to notice the asymmetry of the side towers: the one on the left is narrower so that the alley that runs along its side is not closed. It is in this tower that the mechanism that operates the bells is located. Inside, the style is frankly neoclassical, following the modifications ordered in 1814 by Bishop Espada, a great defender and promoter of this style. Two rows of columns separate the central nave from the two side naves. The oil paintings, executed by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Vermay, also date from this period. The central altar and the tabernacle were decorated with wood carvings and gold ornaments by the Italian Bianchini, under the guidance of the Spaniard Antonio Sola. This carving and gold work was done in Rome. The three frescoes on the altar are the work of another Italian artist, Giuseppe Perovani. Finally, it should be noted that the story goes that the remains of Christopher Columbus lay for a long time in the central nave of the cathedral, at least until 1898, when they were moved to Seville.

Founded in 1845, it is one of the oldest factories in the capital, where production has never been interrupted. Unfortunately, the premises that you will have the opportunity to visit are not the historical premises of the factory. The space is currently being renovated to become the Tobacco Museum (Calle Industria, 520), and if you go to the new, more modern site, you may not have the historical setting, but the spectacle of cigar making remains unchanged, and has for over a century and a half (the factory was founded in 1845). You'll find that the 700 employees listen to a 45-minute political speech every morning, and then have newspaper articles and chapters of a novel read to them in the afternoon. The reading to the workers dates back to the end of the 19th century, and titles of successful novels have become names of famous cigar brands, such as Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas) or Romeo y Julieta (Shakespeare). Beyond the anecdote, one will be amazed by the manual agility of the tobacco workers. Each position has its own speciality, and the work chain is well oiled! The fundamental and most impressive step in the making of a puro is the process of selecting the leaves, rolling them and cutting them. Experienced torcedores, doing this work at an insane speed, manage to roll between 120 and 150 havanas a day. Great art!

The Castillo owes its name to a altarpiece of the adoration of the three kings who were once in his chapel (since disappeared), as well as to his situation on a hill (el morro), on a rocky reef giving directly to the sea. The castle of the Morro became one of Havana's symbols, due to its architecture and the presence of the lighthouse just at the entrance to the bay. It is the most powerful defensive complex that Spaniards have built in America. Since Havana was not slow to become the rallying port of the galleons loaded with gold and money from the New World, it needed to defend attacks on the privateers, pirates and other écumeurs of the seas, but also enemy nations of Spain (England in particular). The protection provided by the Castillo de la Real Fuerza (Royal Force Castle) was found to be insufficient, with Philippe II giving the city another defensive work, entrusted to the Italian architect Juan Bautista Antonelli. The fortress of the Morro, supposedly a replica of a fortress of Lisbon, began in 1589 and completed in 1630. Very damaged during the conquest of the city by the English in 1762, it was rebuilt in 1763. From 1764, his tower served as a lighthouse. It was at that time that the Morro was assisted in his defence mission on the east shore of the bay by a new nearby fortress (La Cabaña), whose first stone was laid in 1763.

The name San Carlos de la Cabaña was given to it in honor of King Charles III of Spain, who ordered its construction on the hill known as La Cabaña, after having exchanged Florida for Cuba with the English. The work, begun in 1763, was carried out with great speed and was completed in 1774. The fortress is 700 meters long and occupies 10 hectares. It is said that the king was moved by it... "Give me a telescope," he is said to have ordered one day, "so that I can appreciate from Madrid this grandiose work La Cabaña is a huge balcony built on the hillside from which you can see, on one side, the city and the channel of the bay and, on the other, the sea. In 1859, 120 cannons, bronze shells and a garrison of 1,300 men, which could be reinforced up to 6,000, ensured a very dissuasive defense since it was never attacked. In the absence of feats of arms, it was therefore responsible for taking on the dirty work: it was used as a prison, and many patriots were shot there during the wars of independence. Then, under the tyrannies of Machado and Batista, it was the setting for many political crimes. In 1959, it was occupied by Che and his guerrillas. After being restored, it was opened to the public in 1986.

Ideal point of view on Havana. From the ramparts, the fortress offers a very beautiful view of Havana. It can be observed in its alignment from east to west with first La Habana Vieja, then Centro Habana, then Vedado and finally Miramar.

In 1556, King Philip II commissioned the architect Bartolomé Sánchez to build a fortress in the most appropriate place to defend the entrance to the port. Work began in 1558 and was completed in 1577. Until 1762, the fortress served as a residence for the captains general, before being occupied by the army. From 1899 to 1906, it housed the city's archives. It was again transformed into a barracks until 1938, when it temporarily returned to its archival vocation. Once restored, it became a national museum in 1977, for the celebration of its 400th anniversary!

The Castillo de la Real Fuerza is formed by a perfect square of a little more than 30 meters on each side, with a small patio in its center, in accordance with the canons of the Renaissance: everything here is regularity, order and geometric perfection. The castle is surrounded by a moat, and you enter through a wooden drawbridge... On the right as you enter, several bronze cannons from the foundries of Seville stand guard, similar in every way to those on the lawn of the Castillo del Morro in Santiago de Cuba.

Also worth seeing is the original Giraldilla, which since 2011 has been in the entrance hall near the ticket office. Today the fort also exhibits ceramics by the most important contemporary artists. There is a permanent collection of Cuban paintings: Rodríguez de la Cruz, Amelia Pelaez, Wifredo Lam, René Portocarrero, Mariano Rodríguez.

The first monks who settled in Havana, in the middle of the 16th century, were Franciscans. Started around 1580 and completed with the century, the church and the convent are destroyed by a violent storm at the end of the XVII century. The complex that you can admire today was built between 1719 and 1738. We recommend that you climb to the top of the bell tower, even if it is a bit steep, to admire a splendid panoramic view of old Havana.

This Franciscan hermitage, whose full name is Iglesia Parroquial del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje (Parish Church of the Holy Christ of the Good Journey), was built in 1640 and was recognized as an auxiliary parish at the end of the 17th century. In 1775, the temple, the main chapel and the side chapels were rebuilt. The present baroque façade was added at that time. The church is recognizable by its two towers, its beautiful stained glass windows and its tiled roof.