Paseo de Martí

Havana


Construction of this stately European-style boulevard – the first street outside the old city walls – began in 1770, and work was completed in the mid-1830s during the term of Captain General Miguel Tacón (1834–38). The original idea was to create a boulevard as splendid as any found in Paris or Barcelona (El Prado bears more than a passing resemblance to Las Ramblas). The famous bronze lions that guard the central promenade at either end were added in 1928.

Notable Prado buildings include the neo-Renaissance Palacio de los Matrimonios, the streamline-moderne Teatro Fausto and the neoclassical Escuela Nacional de Ballet, Alicia Alonso's famous ballet school.

These days the Prado hosts a respected alfresco art market on weekends and countless impromptu soccer matches during the week.

Although officially known as Paseo de Martí, the street is almost universally referred to by its old name, Prado.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Havana attractions

1. Palacio de los Matrimonios

0.04 MILES

In largely secular Cuba, this is where many habaneros come to get married and – appropriately – the building is no less lavish than an average church…

2. Escuela Nacional de Ballet

0.07 MILES

The neoclassical Escuela Nacional de Ballet, Alicia Alonso’s famous ballet school, overlooks the tree-lined Prado. The tickling of ivories and the tapping…

3. Taller Comunitario José Martí

0.1 MILES

Workshop-gallery of an avant-garde artists' collective comprising around a dozen artists. Enter via the radiant mural in El Prado to admire and/or buy…

4. Museo Lezama Lima

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The modest, book-filled house of late Cuban man of letters José Lezama Lima is worth a quick stop if you're interested in understanding Cuban literature…

6. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

0.11 MILES

Spread over two campuses, the Bellas Artes is arguably the finest art gallery in the Caribbean. The Arte Cubano building contains the most comprehensive…

7. Edificio Bacardí

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Finished in 1930, the magnificent Edificio Bacardí, once the HQ of Cuba's erstwhile rum dynasty, is a triumph of art deco architecture, with a host of…

8. Statue of José Martí

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The marble statue of José Martí (1905) in the center of Parque Central was the first of thousands to be erected in Cuba. Raised on the 10th anniversary of…

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