Prado Boulevard is Arbat and Nevsky Havana, the main avenue of the city, conditionally separating the "oldest" Havana from the simply "old" . At the Prado Palace of Marriage Palacio Matrimonios (former casino) and beautiful hotel Sevilla, the Capitol of Havana and the Grand Theater of Havana, the Central Park adjoins it . Boulevard starts from the fortress of San Salvador, moving perpendicularly from the Malecon promenade and stretches about two kilometers to the Indian fountain behind Dragones Street, where the China- tau . In fact, the Prado is a single whole with the boulevard José Martí and is divided into four sections: Promenade, Central Park, Capitol Esplanade and Fraternitad Park .
Here it is always extremely noisy and crowded, at the weekend they sell their paintings to street artists , in the afternoon teenagers skate on skates, and in the evening there are priestesses of love.
The design of the boulevard was commissioned in the second half of the 18th century by the landscape architect from France . Then the significance of Cuba and, in particular, of Havana for Spain was very great - colonial policy paid dividends, and the then governor de la Toré planned to make the city the main one in the New World. . In the next century on Prado appeared marble pavements and constant lighting, and after the construction of the Capitol in 1929 . it was expanded and even more landscaped . @ The then Cuban president ordered a team of French and Cuban masters to cast eight large lions from old cannons, which were then placed along the boulevard . In addition, there were forged lattices, graceful lanterns, evergreen laurels .
Dances on the boulevard Prado
H Prado is a monument to the hero of the revolution Manuel de la Cruz, a statue of the poet Juan Clemente Zenet and the famous "Floridita" bar . At the corner with San Rafael street is the hotel "Inglaterra", built in 1875 . and famous for its luxurious interiors Sevilla tiles, Andalusian mosaics and wooden ceilings . Sarah Bernhard and Anna Pavlova stayed at this hotel, while General Antonio Maceo was preparing an armed uprising . The Indian fountain at the end of the Prado - the allegorical representation of the city - was the most famous symbol of Havana in 19 century, inspiring poets and giving rise to numerous legends .
The "Floridita" bar is famous throughout the world as the place where the best in the world "Daikiri" is poured and where the cocktail "Papa Doble" was invented. His regular patron was Ernest Hemingway, and the bar is among the "Hemingway places" of the appropriate tourist excursion. Legend has it that Papa Ham, ordering "Daiquiri" here, asked for "a double dose of rum and not without sugar - I have diabetes." Actually, this is the recipe for "Dad Doble". Bermuda Hemingway sits in the corner of the bar today at the corner of the bar
But not so historical objects of the Prado are interesting and beautiful . Here you can admire the buildings in Paris, Vienna and Madrid style, numerous cinemas and theaters, cafes and old ballrooms . @ Already in the 50's, . rich families from Prado preferred to move to Miramar, Vedado and Siboni, and after the revolution many buildings began to decline and are still in a dilapidated state . On the other hand, in recent years many houses began to be reconstructed, and in early 2000's . was completed the complex of the Park Central Hotel, which now marks the south-eastern end of the boulevard . And in its present form the Prado is attractive and popular, it serves as a favorite promenade of residents and visitors of the city . Here always to the extreme noisy and crowded, on the weekend they sell their paintings to street artists, in the afternoon teenagers skate on skateboards, and in the evening there are priestesses of love .