Havana Then and Now

Established in 1519 as a harbor city to service the fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru, Havana became the busy portal to the vast Spanish colonial empire. Largely unharmed by war or weather, many great examples of Spanish colonial architecture survive today. Dozens of archival photographs from Havana’s mid-20th-century heyday as a posh vacation spot are featured here opposite contemporary photographs, portraying a beautiful city undergoing restoration and struggling to regain its glory days.

Established in 1519 as a harbor city to service the fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru, Havana became the busy portal to the vast Spanish colonial empire. Largely unharmed by war or weather, many great examples of Spanish colonial architecture survive today. Dozens of archival photographs from Havana’s mid-20th-century heyday as a posh vacation spot are featured here opposite contemporary photographs, portraying a beautiful city undergoing restoration and struggling to regain its glory days.

Llilian Llanes is a former History of Art professor at the University of Havana. She is also the founding director of Cuba’s principal art museum, the Center Wilfredo Lam, and has written two books on Cuban history.