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The Cannon Blast ceremony is one of the oldest and attractive traditions of Havana. In colonial days, the shots signalled the closing and opening of the gates of the walled city and the rising of the chain across the entrance to the harbour. The tradition of firing a cannon every night at 9:00 pm was kept even after the wall was torn down and is still used for checking your watch.
The origin of this beautiful popular square, situated between San Pedro, Oficios y Amargura streets, goes back to 1628. Two buildings of significant importance flank its large cobbled space: the Convent and the Lesser Basilica, whose tower for many years was considered the highest point of the town. Given its location very close to the bay, it soon became a commercial square and a source of livelihood for the people of Havana. The Covent and the Basilica are now a concert hall and the Museum of Religious Art.
The Malecón is the largest bench in the world and also one of the most popular sites of Havana. The first project for the construction of this magnificent seawall dates back to the beginning of the 19th Century. The wall borders 7 Km of the northern coastline of the city, from the entrance to the bay (Castillo de La Punta) all the way to La Chorrera fort at the entrance to the Almendares River.
After more than fifty years of existence, this famous Cuban nightclub is internationally renowned for the virtuosity of its dancers, experience of its artistic directors and skill of its cast (made up by more than 200 professionals) and also because the performance is not presented in a theatre but rather, and true to its slogan, in a "Paradise under the Stars". Numerous prominent Cuban and American artists as well as countless of famed actors, actresses, businessmen and politician were regulars at this cabaret. Its show has toured the leading capitals of the Caribbean, Europe and the Americas.
The construction of the largest of all the Spanish military fortresses concluded in 1774 and its presence exerted a deterring effect on the enemies of the country. It occupies an area of 10 hectares and consists of bulwarks, barracks, moats, covered roads, squares and warehouses. On January 3, 1959, Commander Ernesto Che Guevara militarily seized the fortress and established his headquarters there, which is now a museum that exhibits personal documents and valuable testimonies of the Heroic Guerrilla. Every evening the Cannon is Blast Ceremony is held in one of its squares at 9:00 pm.
The San Francisco de Asís Church and Convent is the current scenario of the richest cultural traditions. As the City Historian has said: “to collect, restore, conserve and exhibit are the classic principles that govern there.... so as to save from the offenses of time the endangered heritage.” The construction of the current set dates from 1738, and it replaced a more modest one completed in 1591. Since it was closed to worship in 1841, the building has seen the most diverse uses. After a restoration that brought back its original values in the nineties, the architectural group has harbored, also, a concert hall and the Holy, Sacred and Religious Art museums.
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