The Plaza de la Revolucion contains two of the most iconic images of Cuba for the outsider.
The two towering murals of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos, that adorn the nearby concrete block that is the Ministerio del Interior, are as impressive as they are famous.
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| Camilo Cienfuegos 2009 Vas Bien Fidel (You're going well, Fidel) |
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| Che Guevara 1995 (based on the image created by Alberto Kordo 1960) Hasta la Victoria Siempre (Always Towards Victory) |
The Plaza was first dreamed up in the 1920's by French landscape architect Jean Claude Forestier to connect the city and it's prominent landmarks. He aimed for a 'harmonic balance between the classical built form and the tropical landscape.' (wikipedia)
Construction began in the 50's under the Batista dictatorship and completed in 1959.
Originally named Plaza Civica, it was renamed after the Revolution. the functional, grey buildings were built around this time too.
The Plaza is now the home of the Cuban Government (although changes are afoot to move the National Assembly to the El Capitolio building that is currently being restored). Large scale political rallies are also held here.
On the opposite side of the square from the murals is the Jose Marti Memorial.
The tower is Cuba's tallest structure at 109m.
It represents a five point star and is built of grey marble.
The Jose Marti statue stands 17m high, or I should say, is seated 17m high.
He is portrayed in a thoughtful Thinker-style pose.
The museum is underneath the tower, but was unfortunately not open to the public on the day we visited.
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| Coco-bikes waiting nearby to pick up a fare! |
This post is part of Saturday Snapshot.
It’s interesting to me how we build statues to people and then pull them down later. Respect comes and goes, I suppose.
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I guess it depends on who put the statue up in the first place! Dictators who erect statues of themselves are just like the modern teenager with their selfies, only far more dangerous!!
DeleteHowever, the Cubans seem to be very proud of Jose Marti and the wars of Independence back in the late 1800's, so I don't imagine his statues will be going anywhere soon.
I love the way you showed the plaza and murals from different perspectives. You created a great overview of the plaza. Looks like an impressive place.
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Interesting how modern those images still look.
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