The Cuban capital, once villa of San Cristobal de La Habana, stands in one of the most loyal exponents of the colonial architecture of the island, marked by a notoriety that started from the end of the XVI century. At that time, known as City Antemural of the West Indies and key from the New World, count with an extraordinary system of Fortress that even in our days constitutes a unique attraction for the national and international tourism.
The assembly mentioned, with the emblematic Castle of the Tres Reyes del Morro to the head, covered nine large constructions to constitute the most significant of its kind in Latin America. Among these works, the Castle of the Real Force (completed toward 1577) opened the path in the continent to the renaissance design in the military constructions, with a style that prevailed in Spain in the era of the Catholic Monarchs and was also called isabelino.
Moreover, at present, some 140 of the buildings located in the historic center of the capital have an origin that goes back to the XVI and XVII centuries, other 200 to XVIII century and more than 460 of the XIX, thus creating a mixture full of attractions for the most demanding tastes. Many squares are located in the geography of Havana, with special emphasis on those known as The Armas Square, the Cathedral, the Old Square and the call of Saint Francis of Assisi, this last adjacent to the church and the convent of the same name.
The rehabilitation led to the Old Plaza to show visitors the pavement, with a fountain in the center that is a replica in Carrara marble of the that once supplied water to the neighbors. The oldest housing of the environment, now restored, corresponds to the place where lived Don José Martín Felix of Arrate, regarded as the pioneer of the historians Habanero, in addition to museums, cultural centers and hostels.
The old city also retains distinctive traits such as the famous Paseo del Prado and the known Alameda de Paula, the latter built in the second half of the of the city in those times, the extramural growth gained strength under the significant influence of the most diverse currents architectural. In this way, spaces in the city they give hand buildings representing from the Renaissance to the art deco, passing by the Mudejar, Baroque, Neo-classicism, eclecticism, art nouveau and the Cuban baroque. The culmination of this last is displayed in the Palace of the Captains General, with a facade is dominated by a few dozen large columns that form of media, and a street front that retains the original structure of paving stones of wood.
Heritage Values go hand in hand with spaces utilized for the empowerment of tourist establishments, ideals with a view to favoring the contact of the visitors with an environment full of elements of centuries ago that shows to Havana as it was during the stage of its development.
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