Paseo del Prado, Havana

Paseo del Prado, promenade

Paseo del Prado, is a street in Havana, Cuba, on the dividing line between Centro Habana and Old Havana. Technically, the Paseo includes entire length of Paseo Martí, including:

• The divided street with promenade extending from the Malecón at San Salvador de la Punta Fortress south to Neptuno Street
• The street along the west side of the Parque Central
• The street on the east side of the Capitolio
• The area around the Fuente de la India fountain.

Overview

In 1772 Don Felipe Fonsdeviela y Ondeano Don Felipe Fonsdeviela y Ondeano designed the street and in 1925 French landscape architect Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier redesigned the paseo, lined with trees and with marble benches.^[1]

Lining the boulevard are important buildings such as hotels (including the Hotel Sevilla), cinemas, theaters, and mansions imitating styles from Madrid, París and Vienna. El Prado was the first paved street in Havana. When El Capitolio was built in 1929 that section of the promenade was removed.^[1] At the corner of Cárcel street the car dealership Packard & Cunnighamm was located, and in 1940 the radio network RHC-Cadena Azul established its studios on the Prado.

Already in the 1950s rich families were moving from the Prado to Miramar, Vedado and Siboney. After the revolution the street and many of its buildings continued to deteriorate physically, to such point that many collapsed and are still in a ruined state. Nonetheless, many other buildings have been renovated. In the first decade of the 2000s the high-end Hotel Parque Central was completed, anchoring the southeast end of the Paseo.

Gallery

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  Paseo del Prado c. 1921-1931
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References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paseo del Prado (Havana).

Coordinates: 23°08′14″N 82°21′32″W / 23.13722°N 82.35889°W / 23.13722; -82.35889