Page 64 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

62  HA V ANA AREA B Y AREA

The Malecón

No other place represents Havana better than the Malecón,
and no other place thrills tourists and locals so much.
This seafront promenade winds for 7 km (4 miles) alongside M A L E C Ó N M A L E C Ó N
the city’s historic quarters, from the colonial centre to the
Vedado
skyscrapers of Vedado, charting the history of Havana from and Plaza Centro Habana
and Prado
past to present. The busy seafront boulevard is lined with
many attractive buildings, but it is the overall effect that Locator Map
is striking – and the Bay of Havana looks truly spectacular See Street Finder pp122–7.
at sunset. In addition, the Malecón means tradition and
religion to the people of the city: offerings to the gods
(see p27) are thrown from the parapet into the sea.

1 The Caryatid Building
is one of the most important
structures in the first stretch
of the Malecón. Built in the
early 20th century, it was
named after the Art Deco- 2 The area between Prado and
style female figures that Calle Belascoaín, which has been
support the entablature scrupulously restored, is known for
of the loggia. its pastel buildings. In the same part
of the street, at No. 51, is the “Ataud”
(the coffin), a 1950s skyscraper
Varied decoration whose name derives from the
shape of its balconies.

Balconies with Neo-Moorish
decorative patterns

Architecture
The Malecón is lined with
buildings whose pastel hues
have faded in the sun and salty
air, as well as early 20th-century
structures, often with two or
three storeys and a loggia on
the upper floor, in a mix of
different architectural styles.

Edificio Focsa

3 The Monument to the Hotel
Victims of the Maine was Nacional
built in 1926 in memory of
the sailors who died when
the American warship Maine
exploded in the Bay
of Havana in 1898
(see p49). It stands 4 Between Calle 23 and Calle G is the
in one of the wide stretch of the Malecón that borders the
stretches of the Vedado quarter to the north. Dominated
avenue on the by Havana’s tallest buildings, this is
edge of Vedado. the seafront of the capital city.

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