7 Best Sights in Havana, Cuba

Cuba's Cervantes Prize–winning novelist, Alejo Carpentier, may have borrowed from St. Augustine when he described the city's cathedral as "music made into stone," but the words—like the bells in the structure they describe—ring true and clear. Work on the church was begun by the Jesuits in 1748, who weren't around to see it finished in 1777. (King Carlos III of Spain expelled the Jesuits from the New World in 1767). The facade is simultaneously intimate and imposing, and one of the two towers is visibly larger, creating an asymmetry that seems totally natural. The two bells in the taller, thicker tower are said to have been cast with gold and silver mixed into the bronze, giving them their sweet tone. In Our Man in Havana, Graham Greene describes the statue of Columbus that once stood in the square as looking "as though it had been formed through the centuries underwater, like a coral reef, by the action of insects." This is, in fact, exactly the case: coral, cut and hauled from the edge of the sea by slaves, was used to build many of Havana's churches. Look carefully and you'll see fossils of marine flora and fauna in the stone of the cathedral.

Havana's famous Malecón, sheltered by a sea wall, runs west for 7 km (4 miles) from La Punta (where it's also known as Avenida Antonio Maceo) and the harbor's entrance to the Santa Dorotea de Luna de la Chorrera fortress, near the mouth of the Río Almendares. Although it was designed in 1857 by a Cuban engineer, it wasn't built until 1902, thanks, in part, to the American capital that flowed to the island after the Spanish-American War. Once an opulent promenade flanked by brightly painted houses, the Malecón today is dark and dilapidated, the houses crumbling, and the wide limestone walkway broken and eroded. Yet it still has its charms. As it faces north, it offers spectacular views of both sunrise and sunset—perhaps accounting for the belief that there's not a single habanero who hasn't professed love eternal here at one time or another. Crashing waves and the rainbows created from their spray and the sun adds to the Malecón's magic.

As you walk, look for rectangles carved into the stone. These were once (and are still used as) sea baths, which fill at high tide and allowed people to splash about, safe from both currents and sharks. Just west of the Hotel Nacional you'll come to Monumento alMaine, honoring the 260 American sailors killed in the 1898 explosion of that U.S. warship, which was visiting Havana in a display of American might. The event lead to what the United States calls the Spanish-American War (for Cubans this was the final stage of their War of Independence, which began in 1868) followed by a period of heavy U.S. involvement in Cuban affairs. A plaque dedicated by the Castro government here reads: "To the victims of the Maine, who were sacrificed by imperialist voracity in its eagerness to seize the island of Cuba."

Even those convinced that they've outgrown their thirst for Hemingway will feel a flutter of youthful romanticism on a visit to Finca Vigía (Lookout Farm), the American Nobel Prize–winner's home from 1939 to 1961. The excellent guides will show you his weight charts—faithfully kept on the bathroom wall and never varying much from 242.5 pounds—a first edition of Kenneth Tynan's Bull Fever by the toilet; the lizard preserved in formaldehyde and honored for having "died well" in a battle with one of Hemingway's five-dozen cats; the pool where Ava Gardner swam naked; Hemingway's favorite chair (ask about what happened to people who dared sit in it); his sleek powerboat, El Pilar; and much, much more.

Batista's Palacio Presidencial, unsuccessfully attacked by students on March 13, 1957, was converted into the Museum of the Revolution after Castro's 1959 victory. The Russian tank outside was used by Cuban forces to repel the Bay of Pigs invasion. The marble staircase and the magnificent upstairs ceiling mural tell one story, while galleries with displays of items from colonial times to the present tell another; the contrast is effective. Photographs of tortured revolutionaries, maps tracing the progress of the war, the bloodstained uniforms of rebels who fell in the 1953 Santiago de Cuba Moncada Barracks attack, and photos of Fidel and Che complete a comprehensive tour of the Revolution's history.

Don't miss Cretin's Corner for a look at some familiar faces.

Housed in an elegant 18th-century mansion, this is one of Havana's best museums. A stop here provides a look at the history of Cuba's sugar industry, as well as the insides of a rum distillery—including a model central (sugar mill) with miniature steam engines—and the craftsmen (such as the coopers, or barrel makers) who were a part of it. Your ticket includes a guided tour, rum tastings, and the opportunity to take photos. The Havana Club shop is a good place to stock up on a few bottles, while the attached bar is great for an after-tour mojito.

Havana's fine-arts museum occupies two separate buildings, each of which deserves careful exploration. The original location on Calle Trocadero, finished in 1954, occupies the site of what was once a market. Designed by Alfonso Rodríguez Pichardo, the building, a compact prism with a large central courtyard, seems to breathe light. It now contains a varied and exciting Cuban collection. The third floor has 16th- to 19th-century colonial religious paintings, portraits, landscapes, and street scenes. Rooms 3 and 4 follow the 1927–38 beginning and consolidation of Cuban modern art. On the second floor, in rooms 5–8, are works by artists from the 1950s to 1990s. The power, color density, and intensity of Cuban painting is extraordinary, as is the rush through 500 years of history—from Armando Menocal's chained Columbus embarking for Spain in 1493 to Servando Cabrera Moreno's Guernica-like depiction of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion and beyond to more contemporary pieces. Paintings to look for include the sensual El Rapto de las Mulatas by Carlos Enríquez, Gitana Tropical (sometimes known as the "Cuban Mona Lisa") by Victor Manuel Garcia, Maternidad by Wifredo Lam, Recibido en Mal Estado by Zaida del Río, and Mundo Sonádo by Tonel (Antonio Eligio Fernandez).

This plaza in upper Vedado may seem grandiose and soulless, but it has several monuments with a lot of heart. Since the Revolutionary victory of 1959, it has been the official parade ground for events ranging from the annual May Day celebration to masses celebrated by Popes John Paul, Benedict, and Francis. A political, administrative, and cultural hub, the square is surrounded by army, police, Communist Party, and other ministries. In better days Castro's whereabouts, which were always a mystery, included visits to these government centers, though he was just as likely to be coaching the national baseball team, resting in one of his many secret Havana residences, or off fishing on the Península de Zapata. It's hard to miss the giant etching of Che Guevara on the Ministerio del Interior (Ministry of the Interior) at the plaza's northwestern edge. It bears the words "hasta la victoria siempre" ("always onward to victory"). On the square's western edge, across Avenida Carlos Manual de Céspedes, is the Teatro Nacional, Cuba's most important theater. Other highlights of the Plaza de la Revolución include the Museo Memorial José Martí at its center, the Museo Postal Cubano around the corner from the Ministerio de Comunicaciones (Communications Ministry), and along Plaza de la Revolución's northern edge is the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí, Cuba's largest library.