Old Havana

The Hotel Pasaje was a hotel located on Paseo del Prado between San José and Dragones, facing the National Capitol in Havana, Cuba.

The Havana Plan Piloto was a 1955–1958 urban proposal by Town Planning Associates, which included Paul Lester Wiener, Paul Schulz, the Catalan architect Josep Lluis Sert, and Seely Stevenson of Value & Knecht, Consulting Engineers, seeking to combine "architecture, planning, and law", in a project heavily influenced by the politics of Fulgencio Batista which in turn were dictated by his involvement with the American Mafia and their desire to augment United States tourism, and thru his architects and various designers, the modernist principles of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM) and the Athens Charter. The Charter got its name from the location of the fourth CIAM conference in 1933, which, due to the deteriorating political situation in Russia, took place on the "in SS Patris II" bound for Athens from Marseilles. This conference is documented in a film commissioned by Sigfried Giedion and made by his friend László Moholy-Nagy The Charter had a significant impact on urban planning after World War II and, through Josep Lluis Sert and Paul Lester Wiener, on the proposed modernization of Havana and in an effort to erase all vestiges of the 16th-century city.

Havana (; Spanish: La Habana [la aˈβana] (listen)) 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 city of Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century. It served as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the Americas, becoming a stopping point for Spanish galleons returning to Spain. Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of capital in 1607. Walls as well as forts were built to protect the city.The city is the center of the Cuban government, and home to various ministries, headquarters of businesses and over 100 diplomatic offices. The governor is Reinaldo García Zapata of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). In 2009, the city/province had the third highest income in the country.Contemporary Havana can essentially be described as three cities in one: Old Havana, Vedado and the newer suburban districts. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbors: Marimelena, Guanabacoa and Antares. The Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay.The city attracts over a million tourists annually; the Official Census for Havana reports that in 2010 the city was visited by 1,176,627 international tourists, a 20% increase from 2005. Old Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. The city is also noted for its history, culture, architecture and monuments. As typical of Cuba, Havana experiences a tropical climate.

El Capitolio, or the National Capitol Building (Capitolio Nacional de La Habana), 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 Teatro Tacón (Tacón Theatre) opened in 1838 in Havana, Cuba. Its auditorium contained 2,750 seats. It was built by Pancho Martí, a businessman from Barcelona who moved to Havana. In 1847 Bottesini's opera Cristoforo Colombo premiered there. By 1855, so many people attended events that the city issued parking regulations for carriages on performance nights.

The Cuban Academy of Sciences (Academia de Ciencias de Cuba) is an official institution of the Cuban state, with headquarters in the National Capitol building in Havana. It is described as the oldest active national academy of sciences outside Europe. The Academy is with a national scope, independent and consultative in the area of science, and the successor of the former Royal Academy of Medicine, Physical and Natural Sciences of Havana, and is also attached to the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment. The Academy represents the fields of Agrarian and Fisheries Sciences, Biomedical Sciences, Exact, and Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities, and Technical Sciences. Its members are nominated by scientific research institutions, universities, scientific societies as well as various other national organizations.

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 Great Theatre of Havana Alicia Alonso), the Hotel Inglaterra (England Hotel), the Hotel Telégrafo, el Hotel Parque Central (Central Park Hotel), la Manzana de Gómez, the Hotel Plaza and Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.

Floridita (Spanish pronunciation: [floɾiˈðita]) or El Floridita is a historic fish restaurant and cocktail bar in the older part of Havana (La Habana Vieja), Cuba. It lies at the end of Calle Obispo (Bishop Street), across Monserrate Street from the National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de La Habana). The establishment is famous for its daiquiris and for having been one of the favourite hangouts of Ernest Hemingway in Havana. The bar now boasts a life size bronze statue of Ernest Hemingway positioned in his favourite spot at the end of the bar. On a small plaque hanging in El Floridita, hangs Hemingway's signed quote: "My mojito in the Bodeguita del Medio and my daiquiri in the Floridita".

Hotel Inglaterra is the oldest hotel in Havana. It is located at Paseo del Prado #416 between San Rafael and San Miguel.

The Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana is a luxury hotel in Havana, Cuba. It is located in the historic Manzana de Gómez building, an early-20th-century building that was Cuba's first shopping mall. The Kempinski Hotel chain, belongs to the oldest hotel groups in Europe, Kempinski Aktiengesellschaft.

The Iglesia del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje is located in Havana Vieja on Calle Cristo between Calles Lamparilla y Teniente Rey. Built at a time in which transatlantic crossings were risky, it acquired popularity during colonial times as a temple dedicated to travelers and navigators. Travelers and especially sailors would visit before leaving on a journey, and to pay their respects upon arriving back on land. Later during Cuba's republican era, the devotion to Santa Rita was added to the church.