The 5th Avenue divides a green area between the 24th and the 26 streets in the diplomatic district of Miramar, creating twin parks. The part on the north is called the Parque de los Ahorcados (Park of the Hanged) or just Miramar park, whereas the part to the south is called the Parque Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919), build to pay tribute to the Mexican staunch defender of the independence of the country, the rights of Mexican Indians and the land reform.

PARQUE EMILIANO ZAPATA

The Parque Emiliano Zapata, one of the oldest and most charming parks in Havana, is named after the monument of the general that was erected in the center of the park in 1964. The current sculpture is that one that replaced the previous one in 2011 on the occasion of the centenary of the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. The Mexican hero is represented in the authentic dress, standing on a rectangular concrete pedestal, with a big characteristic Mexican hat on his right hand and a saber on his left hand. Double bandoliers are slung over his chest. There is a shield on his pedestal, informing that the sculpture was donated by the government of Mexico to the people of Cuba. The sculpture is the work of the Mexican sculptor Germán Michel Leal. People that were concerned with Zapata should not miss to visit the Casa de Benito Juárez in Old Havana to see the portable mural painting Traición y Muerte de Zapata (Treason and Death of Zapata) by Arnold Belkin.

Several granite banks are scattered throughout the park. There are concrete pergolas in the background, consisting of twelve round columns.

Although the park is a little bit neglected, the tall trees, shrubs and ornamental plants that surround the area, make the park a peaceful and romantic place where one would be able to oxygenate the lungs in a nice atmosphere.

PARQUE DE LOS AHORCADOS

The Parque de los Ahorcados receives its name from the unusual trees with aerial roots, called jagüey in Cuba (or jahuelle). Jagüey is a tree with strong trunk, long branches and abundant leaves. Branches hanging down from the tree are in fact roots called “prop roots”, as they hold up the branches of the tree, as it grows and spreads. They can also look a bit like hangman’s nooses hanging down. The same trees can be found also in the Parque Emilio Zapata. In Cuba, the jagüey is taken as a symbol of ingratitude and betrayal, because it seeks support in other trees. It gradually wraps around the tree, until it drowns the tree. These trees are part of the hundred plant species that were planted in this area in the 19th century.

There are two busts erected in the park: the bust of General Mariano Ignacio Prado, the Peruvian military and politician, also President of the Republic twice, inaugurated in 1944, and the bronze bust of Mahatma Gandhi. On the northwest corner of the park, there is the catholic church Iglesia de Santa Rita de Casia (inaugurated in 1942), rising with its modernist style.