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Photo: Paul Mannix, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Housed in the former presidential palace, this iconic museum offers a history tour from pre-Columbian to the revolution in 1959 and on to present-day socialist Cuba. There's more than a hint of propaganda among the exhibitions.
The Museum of the Revolution is located in the Old Havana section of Havana, Cuba, in what was the presidential palace of all Cuban presidents from Mario García Menocal to Fulgencio Batista. The building became the Museum of the Revolution during the years following the Cuban Revolution. The palace building was attacked by the Directorio Revolucionario 13 de Marzo in 1957.
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This museum has two parts: international and Cuban art. In the part of Arte Cubano art-lovers can spend hours admiring the works of the last centuries exhibited on three floors.
On weekends this is where the locals come to party, so bring a bottle and join in.
Catedral de La Habana
Built in the 18th century and redesigned in the 1940s, this church is a prime example of Baroque architecture in Cuba. Houses the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Cuba.
Castillo de la Real Fuerza
The oldest bastioned fortress in the New World, completed 1577. It now houses Cuba's premier maritime museum with excellent exhibits of Cuba’s maritime past, from pre-Columbian days through to the 18th century with the Royal Shipyard of Havana, one of the largest in the world which built nearly 200 ships for the Spanish Crown. The museum includes a huge model of Santisima Trinidad, one of the largest ships in the world during the 18th century. The fort is also a great location for viewing the harbour and city skyline.
Spacious and elegant, the square is surrounded by baroque constructions that give it an authentic colonial milieu. It was laid out during the 1600s, replacing an old plaza which acted as the center of religious, administrative and military activity. Until the mid-18th century, it was used for military exercises and parades. After its remodeling between the years 1771-1838, it became a favored meeting spot for the city's wealthy. Today it is also known as Céspedes Park, in honor of the country's Founding Father, whose monument stands at its center. This square is one of the most outstanding in the city, enlivened by vendors of antiques and classical books on Latin American and world literature. Attractions of remarkable historical value lay around the square such as the capok tree (Ceiba) under which the first mass for the city's founding was officiated in 1519.
El Capitolio
Completed in 1929, this neoclassical building which resembles the U.S. Capitol. It housed the Cuban Congress prior to the revolution and is now the National Assembly.