The Malecón of Havana is a wide seaside avenue, stretching about 8 km along the coast of Havana, from Terminal Sierra Maestra to the tunnel under the Almendares river.
The Malecón of Havana is a wide
seaside avenue, stretching about 8 km along the coast of
Havana, from Terminal Sierra Maestra to the tunnel under the
Almendares river. With its six lanes since 1950, it provides
a fast transportation between the neighborhoods of Havana
that are close to the seaside, whereas with about six meters
wide sidewalk, it serves as a meeting place for Cubans of
all social layers.
El Malecón (its first name was
Avenida de Golfo) was designed initially as a seaside
promenade for the middle class of the 1900s, but the avenue
was quickly extended towards both the directions, so that it
covers three different districts of the city today. For its
construction several public facilities were demolished,
resulting in an unusual combination of buildings of the
neoclassical style and the Art Nouveau. The busy avenue is
lined with a lot of charming mansions of the 18th and 19th
centuries, followed by a row of modest 20th century
buildings that are examples of the modern architecture, like
the emblematic Hotel Nacional de Cuba, the Riviera Hotel and
the Meliá Habana Hotel. Until the last decade, many of the
old buildings were half-ruined due the attrition of the
years, floods after hurricanes, and battering of the wind,
but much more than these due to neglect. Nowadays, most of
these buildings are restored.
Beyond the architectural richness of the Malecón, its greatest charm lies in being the favorite meeting place for all social layers to share a nice moment. The wide walls are ideal place for people of all ages. "The longest bank in the world" is Havana’s outdoor lounge. The gifted teenagers sing warm Cuban songs and dance with the rhythm of the traditional drums. The lovers kiss and hug each other, while watching the sea, particularly at the sunset. The Malecón is a place where you can experience one of the best sunsets of the island. It is a real pleasure to be in the Malecón when the sun shines on the old buildings. Many Cubans sit on the wall along the Malecón to try their chance in fishing, while others prefer to be closer to the sea and go down to the reefs to catch their “dinner for tonight”. At night many Cubans meet at the Malecón simply to take fresh air and to feel the cool of the night. On the other hand, for some habaneros the Malecón means a place where they bring offers to the Yoruba gods and throw them into the sea. As the waves hit the shore, the Santeria religious people consider the strong wind as the revenge of the goddess Yemaya. During the Havana carnival in July, the Malecón turns into a party place where the sound of the traditional drums is mixed with modern reggaeton and salsa songs. Don’t miss to walk on foot in the Malecón from the colonial center through the boring apartments of Vedado until the tunnel beneath the Almendares river.
THE HISTORY
The coast between the mouth of the
Almendares river and the western part of the Caleta de Juan
Guillén (current cove of San Lázaro), where Antonio Maceo
statue stands today, was a sharp reefy area that constituted a
natural wall against the attacks of the pirates up to the
18th century. East of this area, called Monte Vedado, was an open space that was partially
rocky, but at the same time its beaches, like Playa de
Beneficencia, Playa del Recreo and Playa de la Punta, were
used by the families for sea bathing. Until the Torreón de
San Lázaro was built here in 1665, this area stayed as a
desolate beach along the Caleta de Juan Guillén (current
cove of San Lázaro). Towards the end of the 17th century,
patients, particularly the leper patients, were treated in
some huts in this extramural area. Consequently, during the
period of 1744 and 1760 the Real Hospital de San Lázaro was
built, and in 1781 the leprosarium was completed in this
region. Even though, the building of the Real Hospital
invigorated the life around the San Lázaro street, the area
was still a deserted urban fragment on the transition
between the old and new city. Thus, in 1806 the first public
cemetery of Cuba, the Cementerio de Espada, was inaugurated
close to the Torreón de San Lázaro, bordered by the Aramburu,
Vapor and the San Lázaro streets. For a long time, the land,
embracing the cove of San Lázaro, stayed a section of the
city that was not preferred as the residential area. Not
only the Cementerio de Espada, but also the Batería de la
Reina (or Batería de San Lázaro) that was built during the
period 1856 and 1861, played a great role in this.
The city outside the walls grew significantly after the eighteenth century, so that the Carmelo and Vedado neighborhoods appeared by the accumulation of different ethnic groups, and the rehabilitation of the inhospitable coast of Havana became an urgency. The project was entrusted to the tireless Cuban engineer Francisco de Albear y Fernández (1816-1887) that realized great works in the urbanization of the island. Albear designed a project in that a wide avenue would be built four meters above the sea level. It would be constructed on 250 vaults, so that the gallery could be also used for other purposes, like a railway line extending to the port or warehouses. The whole project would cost 850.000 pesos. However, the Crown had different agenda than Cuba, so that Albear’s project has been put aside.
