I was looking again at my blog and realise have wonderful old pictures on sites not really develop and they should stand alone, I went into my Havana and found a picture of the antiguo Palacio Presidencial or former Presidential Palace of Cuba, Family memories flashing ,hope you enjoy the post as I I.
You can see the marvelous Presidential Palace ,on 1909 the governor of Havana decided to build a new headquarters to host the Provincial government.The interior decoration was under the responsibility of Tiffany Studios of New York. The Salon de Espejos or Hall of Mirrors, which was conceived in the image and likeness of the homonymous Galerie des Glaces or Gallery of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles, France. Its floors and staircases are made from the famous Carrara marble of Italy. The building, built on the basis of the canons of eclecticism. In 1917 the history of the building had a transcendent turn that marked its subsequent destiny. At the end of that year, the first Lady of the Republic visited the works, and was captivated by the magnificence of the building and the privileged of its location. No more needed to be said, she turns to her husband ,Mario Garcia Menocal, President of the Republic, and took over the necessary legal quibbles and dispossessed the Provincial government of the property of the palace.
In the beginning of 1918 everything was arranged so that the building located in Calle Refugio No. 1 between Monserrate and Zulueta became the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Cuba. The construction work followed its course and on January 31, 1920 the official inauguration of the Executive Mansion took place. The work, in all its details, was not completed until the 12th of March of 1920. The palace building has four floors: the ground floor served to accommodate the dependencies that secured the main functions; Telephone exchange, auxiliary offices, power plant and even the stable for police horses. The first floor welcomed the most important spaces of the palace: presidential office, Salon de Espejos or Hall of Mirrors, Chapel, Golden Hall and the place where the Council of Ministers made decisions. On the second floor was installed the Presidential residence and in the last of the floor was placed the garrison responsible with the custody of the Presidential mansion. The building is crowned by a dome clad in the exterior of glazed ceramic pieces that, at the time, was one of the highest in the city. In all, there are 38 rooms that speak of more than a century of struggles and heroic epics of Cuba. In the building are present paintings and sculptures of representatives of the artistic avant-garde of the moment: Leopoldo Romañach, Emilio Hernández Giro, Enrique Cabrera, Esteban Valderrama, Esteban Betancourt and Armando Menocal. After the sadly Cuban revolution, the first revolutionary Provisional Government was established in the former presidential palace. From there the dictator, assumed the position of Prime Minister and carried out the process of nationalization of all the private companies that existed in Cuba until that moment; including the American companies that gave rise later to the US Embargo due to non payment !!!
Later, the former Presidential palace houses since 1976 the Museum of the Cuban revolution with holes in the wall of historical shots, as well as weapons, tanks or boats (outside the mythical Granma that brought the revolutionaries from Mexico) that led to the eventual drastic changes in the country for the worse. Its more than 30 exhibition rooms hold around 9,000 pieces from different stages of the independence struggle. The exhibition rooms cover each stage of Cuban history. On the ground floor of the building, a room is dedicated to contemporary Cuba, its contents span from 1990 to the present. First floor is dedicated to the history of the Cuban revolution, it covers the period from 1959 to 1989. Second floor has four rooms cover the period from 1492, date of arrival of the Spanish to the Island, until 1898, year in which the end of the wars of independence against Spain and the intervention of the United States in Cuba occurred.
There you go folks, another nostalgic spot in my life and happy to be able to share it with the world. Havana goes deep with me, even if now is a distant star flicking for survival, I believe you should know these places and eventually visit in better freer times , Again, hope you enjoy the post on the former Palacio Presidencial of Cuba as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 