Malecon is not only a city embankment, it is a cult place where the annual February carnival takes place, several important monuments are collected, and sooner or later all the guests of Havana turn out to be. In addition, it is also a promenade, which stretches 7 km from the hotel "National" to the fortress of San Salvador, past 14 city quarters, including Old Havana and Vedado. If you pass through Malone from start to finish, you can follow the whole history of the city along the road.
The embankment, built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, is not too high above the water, and in the windy weather, the waves are often flooded with a promenade .Meanwhile Malecon was originally built just to protect the city's buildings from the water .To mark the completion of the first half-kilometer section of it, the US government even broke a beautiful square at the intersection with Prado Boulevard .Now there is once a very fashionable hotel "Miramar", and on Sundays traditional Cuban ensembles play .Later, Malecon was already completing the Cuban government .
Along the wide and lively avenue (three lanes to each side, one of the central urban arteries) stand the most diverse buildings throughout the embankment: on some site is the Spanish sentinel tower of the 18th century San Lazaro, and somewhere - colonial buildings with facades of pastel colors .So, at the beginning of the embankment, the house with caryatids is interesting: it was built in the 20th century and is distinguished by female Art Deco figures supporting the veranda .Historical houses alternate with sad buildings in the Soviet style and modern high-rises .
Moving along Malone, you will constantly meet monuments to this or that event or the period of history - even if in essence they are not monuments as such .It can be hotels, for example, such iconic as the gangster "Riviera", preserved decor 1958 ., or a hospital like the 24-story Hermanos Ameijeras, the highest in the capital .These are monuments in the traditional sense: the bronze figure of the fighter for independence Calisto Garcia, the monument to Antonio Maceo (also an independence fighter) and the monument of General Maximo Gomes (of course, the fighter for independence) .In addition, there is a monument to the victims of the "Maine" - an American military vessel that exploded in the harbor in 1898 ., which killed nearly 300 lives of sailors and unleashed a war between America and Spain .The building of the US representation in Cuba also goes to Malecon (today there is no American embassy on the island), like the ancient fortress of La Fuersa .
Today the poorest Havanese are fishing on Malone (not as a pastime, but for the sake of catching), girls (and not only girls) are on duty, and in the evenings young people gather. The main center of night life on the waterfront is the site where it intersects with the 23rd street in Vedado.
The most attractive is the Malecon at sunset, when the sun beautifully highlights the facades, and all the benches and the parapet of the embankment are occupied by lovers of couples.
| Malecon Embankment in the evening |
| Embankment of Malecon |
Reviews of the Malecon waterfront (1)
Unforgettable Malecon October 13, 2014
We lived in the private part (private apartment) in house number 59. It is located in the part of Malecon, which is closer to the fortress of San Carlos de la Cabaña. Since the toe was on the 5th floor, a chic view of the embankment was opened from the window and it was impossible to resist and not photograph it in ... Read the whole review