Teatro Martí

CA4
General sightseeing
CA Ranking: 4
Dragones e/ Prado y Avenida de las Misiones, Habana Vieja

  • 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 achieved great popularity. In 1902, the theater hosted the heated debates over the Platt Amendment, having served as meeting place for several sessions of the National Assembly in charge of drafting the first Magna Carta of the Republic of Cuba.

    Many Cuban zarzuelas (musical comedies that preceded cabarets) premiered here and it became home to “teatro bufo”–satirical plays, many of which often mocked the Spanish authorities.
    After several decades in dereliction, it has recently been extensively and painstakingly renovated, and technologically brought up to date by the City Historian’s Office. It reopened in 2014.

    
  • Parque Central

    Parque Central  LH 4

    Completed in 1877 after the city walls were knocked down, the park is bordered by El Prado, Zulueta, San José and Neptuno Streets. It is surrounded by significant buildings, such as the Gran Teatro de …

    Cinemateca de Cuba (Cine Chaplin)

    Cinemateca de Cuba (Cine Chaplin)  LH 4

    The Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC) was the first cultural institution created by the Revolutionary Government on March 24, 1959. Its objective was to organize, establis …

    Agromercado de 19 y B

    Agromercado de 19 y B  LH 4

    With fresh organic products that include fruits, vegetables and meat, this agromercado is best known among locals for being one of the best stocked open-air vegetable markets in the city.

    Gran Teatro de La Habana

    Gran Teatro de La Habana  LH 4

    Across from Parque Central, the Tacón Theater was inaugurated in April, 1838. At the time, this was Havana’s most important theater and arguably one of the best in the continent for its elegance, comf …

    Galería Habana

    Galería Habana  LH 4

    This gallery opened in 1962 to promote Cuban talent. Artists such as Wifredo Lam, René Portocarrero, Mariano Rodríguez and Amelia Peláez have shown their work here, establishing this gallery as one of …

    Cristo de La Habana

    Cristo de La Habana  LH 4

    This majestic representation of Jesus Christ, only four decades old, is part of the landscape that characterizes the entrance to the Havana harbor. It is 20 meters tall, weighs 320 tons and consists o …

    Castillo de la Real Fuerza

    Castillo de la Real Fuerza  LH 4

    History & architecture Considered an engineering marvel, this fortress on the plaza’s northeast corner is one of the oldest European defensive structures in the Americas, and the first built to gu …

    La Moderna Poesía

    La Moderna Poesía  LH 4

    Owned by the López Serrano family–who evidently had a preference for Art Deco–this bookstore is a sample of how the sober interplay between lines and volumes can achieve a discreet elegance highligh …

    Parque Lenin

    Parque Lenin  LH 4

    Approximately 25 kilometers south of Havana is Parque Lenin, inaugurated on April 22, 1972 by Fidel Castro on the initiative of Celia Sánchez. The huge bust of Lenin, carved in 1982 by Soviet sculptor …

    Fundación Havana Club

    Fundación Havana Club  LH 4

    One block southeast of Plaza de San Francisco, on Avenida del Puerto, stands the ochre-colored former mansion of the Conde de la Montera. Beyond its ornate doorway is a promotional center—the Museo de …

    « 9 of 22 pages »