Page 108 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

106  HA V ANA AREA B Y AREA

P Ministerio del Interior P Palacio de la Revolución
Calle Aranguren. Calle Martí.
A huge bronze wire sculpture The former Ministry of Justice
of Che Guevara, completed in (1958) behind the Martí
1995, stretches up the façade Memorial now houses the
of the Ministry of the Interior, offices of the Council of State,
where the guerrilla fighter had the Council of Ministers and
his office in the early 1960s. the Central Committee of the
This striking and symbolic image Communist Party. It was here
was inspired by the world- that Fidel Castro received Pope
famous photo graph taken by John Paul II on 22 January 1998.
the press photographer Alberto
Korda (see p180). The façade is
illuminated at night.
E Museo Postal Cubano
Ave Rancho Boyeros y 19 de Mayo.
A parade in front of the Ministerio del Tel 7881 5551. Open 8am–4:30pm
Interior, Plaza de la Revolución Mon–Fri. Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 26 Jul,
10 Oct, 25 Dec. & 8 Note: fee for
7 Plaza de la photography may apply.
Revolución This fascinating postal museum The elegant wooden card-index files
has occupied a small corner of in the Biblioteca Nacional
Map 2 E5. the building of the Ministry of
Informatics and Communications P Biblioteca Nacional
Plaza de la Revolución has since 1965. A steel wire sculpture José Martí
been Cuba’s political, of revolutionary commander Plaza de la Revolución. Tel 7855 5442.
administrative and cultural Camilo Cienfuegos (see p54), Open 8:15am–6:15pm Mon–Fri,
centre since 1959. The square added in 2009 and much like 8:15am–4:15pm Sat. 8 Call ahead to
was designed in 1952 under the one of Che Guevara, hangs reserve, 7881 7657. -
the Batista regime, and most on the ministry’s façade. The José Martí National Library
of the buildings visible today The museum illustrates the last has over two million books
also date from the 1950s. What two centuries of Cuban history and is particularly strong in the
had been known as the Plaza through the medium of stamps, humanities. The United States
Cívica was renamed Plaza de from the end of the colonial embargo, plus the Special Period
la Revolución following Fidel period to the years following the crisis, have slowed the develop-
Castro’s victory in 1959. fall of the Berlin Wall, includ ing ment of a library computerization
Though it does not the wars of independence, programme, but all services are
distin guish itself by its and figures like Machado, being modernized.
architecture or design, the Batista and Che Guevara.
square is nonetheless an The most curious item on F Teatro Nacional
important place to visit display is a fragment of a “postal Paseo y 39. Tel 7878 0771.
because of its historic and missile”. In 1939, a group of Built with a striking convex
symbolic importance. It was Cubans decided to use a missile façade, the National Theatre is
the venue for the first mass for “express airmail deliveries” Cuba’s most important cultural
rallies following the triumph from Havana to Matanzas, but complex. It was inaugurated
of the Revolution and of the the crude device exploded a in June 1959. There are two
festivities for the campaign few minutes after “take-off”. auditoriums: the Avellaneda,
against illiteracy in 1961. with a seating
Since 1959, military parades capacity of 2,500, and
and official celebrations the Covarrubia, which
have often attracted crowds seats 800 and has a
of more than a million people. mural by Cuban artist
During these events the area René Portocarrero
fills with people, and the (see p30). Theatre
speakers take their place pro grammes include
on the podium next to the lectures, courses,
statue of José Martí, at theatre festivals, guitar
the foot of the obelisk. and jazz concerts,
On the morning of and ballet. There is
30 September 2015, Pope also a nightclub, Café
Francis celebrated mass from Cantante (see p129),
this podium together with and a piano bar with
thousands of worshippers. The Teatro Nacional seen from Martí’s memorial live shows.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp257–8 and pp271–2

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