Capital of the Caribbean Largest Island

Legendary Old Havana, the old part of the city, with historic center and colonial fortifications have been registered on the UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Wandering through Havana is strolling through its tight, narrow streets filled with houses and churches that refused to be demolished and exterminated. They have now been rescued from oblivion by a comprehensive reconstruction and restoration project undertaken by the authorities, with the enthusiastic participation of its approximately 2.13 million inhabitants (2017), the major beneficiaries of this most commendable effort.

It is also penetrating the silence of the Stones in the Real Fuerza Castle, now the City Museum. One of its watchtowers features the sculpture of La Giraldilla, the symbol of Havana, who still seems to be waiting for the galleon that will return her lover from distant lands, back to the well-protected bay.

It entails taking a few steps to San Salvador de la Punta and climbing to the highest point of the castle known as the Tres Santos Reyes Magos del Marro, where a beacon perpetually beams its lights to guide the sailors, as if it were winking at all those who are visiting Havana.

It also involves a visit to the fort of San Carlos and San Severino de la Cabana, impregnable bastions where - for over 3 centuries - every night at 9 o'clock sharp a cannon is fired. In the past, it is signaled the closing of the ramparts in order to prevent attacks from pirates. Today is heralds - to the city and its guests - the beginning of its lovely night and romantic evening.

There are magnificent sunrises, when the sun awakens behind the huge Havana's Christ, an imposing figure of Christ carved in white Carrara marble. The red and orange sunsets are no less spectacular, with the sun bidding farewell in the horizon, where no one knows to this day, where the sea begins and where the sky ends.

There are the hotels and restaurants; cafes and bars; parks and promenades; theatres and movie houses; stadiums and schools; factories and hospitals; art galleries and museums. There are buildings, whose splendid architecture embellishes the streets and boulevards, like “Garcia Lorca Grand Theatre” with its eloquent, magnificent façade; Spanish Embassy's Neoclassical style; Havana's Capitol building, now the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment; Bacardi Building; Hotel Inglaterra; the Commerce Building and many, many more stately structures comprising this marvelous urban setting.

There are other districts in Havana like Vadado, the contemporary image of the city, which concentrates the principal hotels, government buildings, companies, movies and theatres. Miramar, in the western section of the city, was once an exclusive residential neighborhood that now houses most of the diplomatic and commercial representations, select restaurants, a major convention center and Cuba's Scientific Research Center.