Across from Parque Central, the Tacón Theater was inaugurated in April, 1838. At the time, this was Havana’s most important theater and arguably one of the best in the continent for its elegance, comf …

The Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC) was the first cultural institution created by the Revolutionary Government on March 24, 1959. Its objective was to organize, establis …

History & architecture Considered an engineering marvel, this fortress on the plaza’s northeast corner is one of the oldest European defensive structures in the Americas, and the first built to gu …

Owned by the López Serrano family–who evidently had a preference for Art Deco–this bookstore is a sample of how the sober interplay between lines and volumes can achieve a discreet elegance highligh …

Located just a few meters away from El Capitolio, this is the largest and most important Chinatown in the New Continent. According to historian Julio Le Riverend, between 1847 and 1874, around 150,000 …

One block southeast of Plaza de San Francisco, on Avenida del Puerto, stands the ochre-colored former mansion of the Conde de la Montera. Beyond its ornate doorway is a promotional center—the Museo de …

Factoría Habana is an experimental center for present-day artistic creation. The institution, which is ascribed to the City Historian’s Office, seeks to become a bridge between Latin American and Euro …

This is one of the 67 facilities especially built for the Havana 1991 Pan-American Games. It was named after Eligio Sardiñas, also known as Kid Chocolate, Cuba’s finest amateur boxer ever. The sports …

This gallery opened in 1962 to promote Cuban talent. Artists such as Wifredo Lam, René Portocarrero, Mariano Rodríguez and Amelia Peláez have shown their work here, establishing this gallery as one of …

This majestic representation of Jesus Christ, only four decades old, is part of the landscape that characterizes the entrance to the Havana harbor. It is 20 meters tall, weighs 320 tons and consists o …