Page 76 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

74 ❯❯ Cuba Area by Area

Plaza de San Francisco
4 RESTORING OLD HAVANA
This cobbled plaza formerly
opened onto the harborfront. It is In 1982, UNESCO recognized La Habana
dominated by the Basilica Menor Vieja (below) as a World Heritage Site,
de San Francisco de Asís – a former and Cuba initiated a plan to save the
cathedral that ceased to be used for crumbling colonial city. Eusebio Leal,
worship following British occupation the Havana City Historian, has overseen
in 1762. Today it is a concert hall as the remark able effort. Priority has been
given to the most important buildings,
well as a religious art museum. The many of which have been transformed
plaza also features an eclectic array into museums, hotels, and bars.
of restored buildings spanning three
centuries (see p12).
Calle Mercaderes
5
MAP X5 • Casa de Asia: Calle
Mercaderes 111, La Habana Vieja;
7863 9740; open 9am–5pm Tue–Sat,
9am–noon Sun • Museo del Tabaco:
Calle Mercaderes 120, La Habana Vieja;
7861 5795; open 10am–5pm Tue–Sat,
9am– 1pm Sun; adm • Maqueta de
La Habana: Calle Mercaderes 114, La
Habana Vieja; 7866 4425; open 9am– works by North American and
5pm Tue–Sat (to 12:30pm Sun); adm European masters, including
This cobbled street (see p12) is lined Gainsborough, Goya, and Rubens.
with colonial mansions housing tiny The Modernist Palace of Fine Arts,
museums, boutiques, and other a separate building two blocks away,
fascinating places. The three blocks displays works by Cuban artists from
might take a full morning to explore, different periods (see p12).
with requisite stops at the Museo
Plaza de la Revolución
de Asia, Museo del Tabaco, and 7
Maqueta de La Habana – a fabulous The administrative and
scale-model of La Habana Vieja. political center of Cuba since the
Break your stroll at Mesón de la early 1950s, the plaza is surrounded
Flota, a bodega hosting live flamenco. with Modernist and monumentalist
government buildings. Huge political
Museo Nacional
6 rallies are held here. The Memorial
de Bellas Artes
José Martí on the south side features
This world-class museum is in a large granite monument to the
two parts. An international section national hero, plus an excellent
occupies the Renaissance-style museum topped by a Surrealist
Centro Asturiano, built in 1927, and tower. A striking visage of Che
boasts treasures from Ancient Egypt, Guevara adorns the facade of the
Greece, and Rome. There are also Ministerio del Interior (see p15).

Museum within the Memorial José Martí in Plaza de la Revolución

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