Wandering Havana

A walk through the old centre of Cuba's capital is an incomparable historical experience but this "museum" is kept very much alive by its inhabitants and the diversity of options for visitors.

Describing the mysterious charms of a city is often left to poets but I think it would be impossible to capture the beauty of Habana Vieja or "Old Havana" in a simple verse. So we will have to walk its streets and get acquainted with the urban landscape, the legends, and its real history.

"Walking Havana" remains a popular saying for those who cross through it everyday. They get to enjoy the old city's enclave and appreciate the dreams of historians and artists who restore, brick by brick, the centuries old colonial architecture.

You will eventually learn the identity of the facades of the old mansions and the ancient walls by walking the zigzag of streets of this urban maze. The great squares and well preserved hotels, and mansions inhabit the city, first named San Cristóbal de la Habana almost 500 years ago, like ghosts that have never aged.

Recovering the architectural, cultural and historical memory of the city has been a salvaging of the past, of Cuban identity, and was one of the reasons why the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization placed Old Havana on the World Heritage List in 1982