Casa de Dionisio Velasco

CA3
General sightseeing
Architectural style: Eclectic
CA Ranking: 3
Admission: Free
Cárcel #51 esq. a Zulueta, Habana Vieja
  • Built in 1912, the building was conceived as a grand palace. Lavishly ornamented on its facade, it features overhanging balconies and windows which break the horizontal line of the balustrade. This monumental building, built in the early days of the Republic, is an antecedent of the sumptuous mansions that would flood Havana’s wealthy neighborhoods in the following decades. It belonged to the Velasco family until 1960, when it became the Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy. Since 1986, it is the Spanish Embassy.

    
  • Teatro Martí

    Teatro Martí  LH 4

    Elegant and simple, this Romanesque-style theater opened in 1884 as Teatro Irijoa and changed its name to Teatro Martí in 1900. Because of its location in Habana Vieja and its great acoustics, it achi …

    Fototeca de Cuba

    Fototeca de Cuba  LH 4

      Inaugurated in 1986 to preserve, study and promote Cuba’s photographic heritage, Fototeca de Cuba, mid-way along the east side of the plaza, boasts the nation’s largest, most valuable collectio …

    Plaza del Cristo

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    The mid-17-century plaza takes its name from the Iglesia del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje. It was first known as Plaza Nueva taking the name of what is now known as Plaza Vieja. For a while it was know …

    Sloppy Joe’s Bar

    Sloppy Joe’s Bar  LH 5-

    6pm is Sloppy Joe cocktail hour again at the original Sloppy Joe’s saloon, an iconic Cuban bar that reopened Friday April 12, 2013 after a nearly 50-year break in its original location. The restoratio …

    Teatro Nacional de Cuba

    Teatro Nacional de Cuba  LH 4

    Opened in 1960, and reopened in 1979 after being fully restored, this is one of Havana’s most important cultural venues. It promotes dance, drama, theater for both adults and children, music and visua …

    La Terraza de Cojimar

    La Terraza de Cojimar  LH 4

    Ernest Hemingway lived in Cojimar for some years and this was his favorite restaurant there, as evidenced by the many pictures of the American author here, including one with Fidel Castro. In one of t …

    La Bodeguita del Medio

    La Bodeguita del Medio  LH 4

    Back 1942, this well-known restaurant was a small grocery store. Its owner, Ángel Martínez, began to sell food as the number of customers increased. One day, journalist Leandro Garcia, a regular costu …

    Edificio FOCSA

    Edificio FOCSA  LH 4

    Considered one of the seven wonders of Cuban civil engineering, when built, the Focsa building was among the largest reinforced concrete structures in the world. Construction works took 28 months, and …

    Jardín Diana de Gales

    Jardín Diana de Gales  LH 4

    The distinctly non-communist fairytale crown atop a wrought-iron archway is something of a giveaway for one of Havana’s most delightful gardens, the Jardín Diana de Gales, inaugurated in 2000 in memor …

    Parque John Lennon

    Parque John Lennon  LH 4

    Occupying a whole block, the park delimited by 17, 15, 6 and 8 Streets had been unofficially known as John Lennon for years and had been a popular meeting place for young people and sometimes imprompt …

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