The Cuban Capitol. Havana - a city in which the time has frozen

Cuba is a small country in which time itself has stopped. Surprisingly, despite its proximity to the United States, this state does not support friendly relations with the US, which affects the country itself. The Cuban economy is difficult to call developed, the state does not have incredibly expensive hotels, grandiose artificial islands or even a developed tourism industry. Cuba attracts tourists not by this.

All go to the city of Havana. The Capitol is one of the most beautiful Cuban attractions, but not the only one. In this country, everything is unusual. Architecture, cars and even the local people themselves are all examples of the unique integration of different cultures.

Caribbean Babylon

The capital of Cuba is Havana, and the people call it the Caribbean Babylon. By Cuban standards, this is the most developed and very populated city. Its population is about 2 million people, which is 20% of the total population of the country. Surprisingly, almost all of them are the ancestors of the Spaniards who settled the islands and founded the colony. Everyone who dreams to see with his own eyes how an alien culture penetrates into an isolated state must go to Havana. The capitol is the center of attention of most tourists, but it is by far not the only attraction.

They say that time has frozen in Havana, or, maybe, it has slightly slowed down. In part this is true. Cuba is not the most open state, and it is not friendly with its neighbors. Constant sanctions and embargoes have led to the stagnation of the country's development. The streets of Havana are still moving old American cars, which in any other country would inevitably be called retro.

The sculptural image of Cuba is not original. It is a mixture of American, English, Spanish and Russian architectural thought. In general, the style of the colonial era is widespread throughout Cuba: huge massive buildings with columns and wide balconies, large doors, bas-reliefs, stained-glass windows and statues. The capital has many squares, and throughout the country there are many forts and castles. All this is everywhere. However, this is only the external side of the Cuban building.

The most attractive and beautiful is the city of Havana. Capitol and other attractions attract the attention of all tourists and skilfully disguise the Cuban slums and disadvantaged areas. In difficult times, Cuban architects built buildings for the cheapest projects - unremarkable concrete boxes for less well-off citizens. For a time, the Soviet style of the Khrushchev era penetrated into Cuba. That's why, walking through Havana, you can find familiar paneled five-story houses.

All roads lead to the Capitol

Whoever comes to Havana, he will certainly pay attention to the Capitol. Havana, although it offers other attractions, but all excursion programs always give priority to this landmark. There is nothing surprising in this, it is a unique structure. It is somewhat similar to the Washington Capitol, but slightly higher than it.

According to the architectural style, the Capitol is similar to the buildings of the Renaissance, but with its own characteristics. It was built in 1926 and was actively used until 1959, but then it became an architectural monument. Roughly speaking, today it is an open-air museum.

The Capitol is the building of the Parliament of Cuba. Once it performed its functions in full, but today it is nothing more than an object of cultural heritage. If ever the parliament again meets in it, it will be a very important meeting with historical significance.

Distance is important

Wherever tourists go, you will always have to deal with distance. However, pegging to distance is important in cartography, in bureaucracy, and even in politics. Almost every state is trying to build a place that will not only become an architectural monument, but will also be the starting point for changing the distance inside the country - zero kilometer. Traditionally, architects try to make this place special and meaningful. So Cubans did not save on registration.

More than a tourist attraction

The Capitol is a fundamental structure. It consists of a number of rooms and rooms, but the central hall is allocated. This place is of particular importance for the structure. You can even say that this is the face of the Capitol. In the main hall the entire floor is lined with expensive marble, on the floor there is a huge star, in the center of which is an amazing diamond. To be more precise, a platinum nest is mounted on the floor, and a stone is embedded in it. It is this diamond that is the zero kilometer. It is the starting point for measuring the distance in Cuba. This is a fairly visited place, and in the summer season there are many tourists. Due to the fact that the Internet is not distributed in Cuba, it will be difficult to purchase tickets online. We'll have to defend a long line in the hot sun.

City of contrasts

Havana is a city of contrasts. How many unusual things are collected in one place. Cuba itself is like a time machine or an open-air museum. This is the passage in the middle of the last century.

Tourists do not need to visit the Capitol. The sights of Havana are varied. The city itself is a memorable place, which deserves attention. A lot of museums, interesting buildings, fortifications, fortresses and much more can be visited free of charge or by cheap tickets. As a rule, free admission is associated with a large queue, so it's better to pay.

Slum

There are slums in Havana. Despite the fact that they are part of the architectural appearance, and Cubans are peaceful and kind people, it is not recommended to visit slums in the evening and at night. In the daytime, it's quite safe to walk on them. However, the mobile Internet does not catch in the slums. However, all over Cuba with him are very big problems.