Page 297 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

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the world. The leaves are grown
in the Dominican Republic,
reputedly from Cuban tobacco
seeds, the world’s best.
The district’s nationalistic
focal point, Cuban Memorial
Boulevard, as Southwest
13th Avenue is known, is
dotted with memorials in
honor of Cuban heroes. The
most prominent is the Brigade
2506 Memorial’s eternal flame
commemorating the disastrous
Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.
On April 17, people gather
Towering skyscrapers pierce Miami’s skyline here to remember the Cubans
who died in the attempt to
launched in 1986, provides a swift 8 Little Havana overthrow Fidel Castro’s regime.
but good overview of the area. Map C3. @ 8 from Downtown, 17, 6. Beyond are other memorials
Among the most striking El Titan de Bronze: 1071 SW 8th St. to heroes who fought against
high-rises here are the Four Tel (305) 860-1412. Open 9am– 5pm Cuba’s Spanish colonialists in
Seasons hotel in Brickell area, Mon–Sat. the 1880s. At intervals, too,
Southeast Financial Center, and along Calle Ocho between
the Miami Tower, famous for its As its name suggests, the 12th and 17th
changing nighttime illumina- 3.5-sq-mile (9-sq-km) area Avenues, are
tions. Older structures include comprising Little Havana has stars on the
the Alfred I. DuPont Building been the surrogate homeland pavement
(1938) and the Ingraham of Cuban immigrants since the honoring
Building (1927), a Neo-Classical/ 1960s. The atmosphere here, modern-day
Renaissance Revival work. especially on the streets, is Latin celebrities
The US Federal Courthouse, vibrant and reflects the Cuban such as Julio Salsa music
completed in 1931, is an way of life. Spanish is spoken Iglesias and album covers
imposing Neo-Classical everywhere, while a salsa Gloria Estefan
building, with a pleasant, beat emanates from every in Little Havana’s version of
Mediter ranean courtyard. other shop, and bodegas Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
It has hosted a number (canteens) sell Cuban North of Calle Ocho, at West
of high-profile trials, specialties. The main Flagler Street and Southwest
including that of Manuel commercial thoroughfare 17th Avenue, the Plaza de la
Noriega, the former and sentimental heart is Cubanidad has a map of Cuba
Panamanian president, in Calle Ocho (Southwest sculpted in bronze. There’s a
1990. Its main attraction 8th Street), with its flourish of banners advertising
is the mural on the liveliest stretch between the headquarters of Alpha 66,
second floor. Designed 11th and 17th Avenues. Miami’s most hard-line anti-
by Denman Fink (see The small but authentic Castro group.
p296), it depicts Miami’s El Titan de Bronze, near Also in this district are the
transformation from a Calle Ocho and 11th tiny Máximo Gómez Park, or
wilderness into a modern Freedom Tower Avenue, is a cigar shop Domino Park, and Woodlawn
city. Entry is often (1925) with cigars handcrafted Cemetery. The Versailles
restricted, especially in the traditional Cuban restaurant, nearby, is the Cuban
during high-profile cases. style by rollers who have community’s cultural and
Miami’s oldest Catholic parish, worked in the finest factories in culinary bastion.
Gesu Church built in 1925, is on
Northeast 2nd Street. It is noted
for its fine stained-glass windows,
made in Munich, Germany. The
Freedom Tower, on Biscayne
Boulevard, is loosely modeled
on the Giralda in Seville. As first
home to the now-defunct Miami
News, it was the reception center
for Cuban exiles in the 1960s and
is now a cultural center. Macy’s
(formerly Burdines, founded in
1898) is on Flagler Street. A Cuban mural in Little Havana, symbolizing nostalgia for the homeland

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