Plazas and Churches in the Center of Havana
Photo Feature by Ernesto Gonzalez Diaz
HAVANA TIMES – The most central municipalities of the capital, Centro Habana and Habana Vieja, are very congested both in terms of urban planning and demographically. Hundreds of citadels, apartment buildings, businesses of different types and sizes etc., are stacked side by side. This creates an urban chaos that does not leave much room for open spaces such as squares and parks.
The few open spaces that exist today are located at the intersections of the main avenues, such as Reina and Belascoain, Reina and Aguila, Galeano, etc., but very little towards the interior of barrios with a very high population density and a large floating population. Many of the people in these neighborhoods have emigrated from other provinces, and prefer to do so to these municipalities. In these Havana territories it is difficult to find trees or vegetation of any kind on the sidewalks, unlike much of the rest of the city.
In this photo essay I want to present some images obtained from the squares, which without being the most famous and touristic in Old Havana, help to decongest the urban landscape of these municipalities to some extent. As well as some images of the Church of Charity, in the neighborhood of San Leopoldo, and its surrounding streets where sellers of sunflowers for Oshún swarm. Images of the streets near these squares are also shown with the intention of showing the architectural density that prevails in these urban settings.
