Vedado ( es, El Vedado, ) is a
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
and urban neighborhood in the city of
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. ,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
. Bordered on the east by Calzada de Infanta and
Central Havana, and on the west by the Alemendares River and
Miramar /
Playa district, Vedado is a more modern part of the city than the areas to the east, developed in the first half of the 20th century, during the Republic period. In 2016 it was described by one commentator as the city's "most affluent" section. The main street running east to west is Calle 23, also known as "La Rampa". The northern edge of the district is the waterfront seawall known as the
Malecón
A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...
, a famous and popular place for social gatherings in the city. The area popularly referred to as 'Vedado' consists of the wards (''consejos populares'') of Vedado, Rampa, Vedado-Malecón and Carmelo, all in the municipality of
Plaza de la Revolución
Plaza de la Revolución (), "Revolution Square", is a municipality (or borough) and a square in Havana, Cuba.
The municipality, one of the 15 forming the city, stretches from the square down to the sea at the Malecón and includes the Vedado d ...
.
Notable sites
Among the notable sites in Vedado are the hotels:
Hotel Nacional de Cuba
The Hotel Nacional de Cuba is a historic Spanish eclectic style hotel in Havana, Cuba, opened in 1930. Located on the sea front of Vedado district, it stands on Taganana Hill, offering commanding views of the sea and the city.
History
Design ...
(National Hotel), the
Havana Libre (former Hilton),
Melia Cohiba Hotel and
Hotel Riviera.
In addition:
*
Colon Cemetery
*
FOCSA Building
The FOCSA Building is a residential and commercial block in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana, Cuba. At , it is the tallest building in Cuba. It was named after the contracting company ''Fomento de Obras y Construcciones, Sociedad Anónima'', and ...
, tallest building in Cuba at 121 m
*
Edificio del Seguro Médico, Havana
The Edificio del Seguro Médico is a commercial building in El Vedado, HavanaBuilt between 1955 and 1958, it was designed as a mixed use building for apartments and offices for the headquarters of the National Medical Insurance Company by Antonio ...
*
López Serrano Building
The López Serrano Building was the tallest residential building in Cuba until the construction of the FOCSA Building, FOCSA in 1956. Designed by the architect Ricardo Mira in 1929, who in 1941 who also designed La Moderna Poesia bookstore on Obisp ...
, first skyscraper in Cuba
*
Radiocentro CMQ Building
The Radiocentro CMQ Building complex is a former radio and television production facility and office building at the intersection of Calle L and La Rampa in El Vedado, Cuba. It was modeled after Raymond Hood's 1933 Rockefeller Center in New York ...
*
Coppelia (ice cream parlor)
Coppelia is an ice cream parlor chain in Cuba, originally built in a project led by Fidel Castro. Coppelia is state-run and sells in Cuban pesos (CUP). Havana's Coppelia employs more than 400 workers and serves of ice cream to 35,000 customers e ...
[''Cuba, the Test of Time'']
/ref>
* Embassy of the United States, Havana
The Embassy of the United States of America in Havana ( es, Embajada de los Estados Unidos de América, La Habana) is the United States of America's diplomatic mission in Cuba. On January 3, 1961, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower severed r ...
* José Martí Anti-Imperialist Plaza
José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ).
In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...
* Jewish religious centers include the Gran Sinagoga Bet Shalom and the Centro Hebreo Sefaradi
In 2007 Centro Hebreo Sefaradi Synagogue was described as “…the only remaining institutional legacy of the Sephardic presence in Cuba.” Construction originally began in 1957 and the synagogue was completed in 1960 with a 726-seat sanctuary. ...
* John Lennon Park
John Lennon Park or Parque John Lennon (formerly known as Parque Menocal) is a public park, located in the Vedado district in Havana, Cuba.
Overview
On one of the benches of the park, nearer the corner of streets 17th and 6th, there is a sculptu ...
, named for the statue of Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
located there
* Monument to the Victims of the USS ''Maine''
* University of Havana
The University of Havana or (UH, ''Universidad de La Habana'') is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba. Founded on January 5, 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first ...
* National broadcast center for Cuban television.
*Cementerio Chino (The Chinese Cemetery)
Nearby neighborhoods include:
* To the east: Central Havana
* To the west: Miramar
File:1909 Habana districts map by Baedeker.png
Image:Cuba011.jpg, Hotel Nacional de Cuba
The Hotel Nacional de Cuba is a historic Spanish eclectic style hotel in Havana, Cuba, opened in 1930. Located on the sea front of Vedado district, it stands on Taganana Hill, offering commanding views of the sea and the city.
History
Design ...
File:Porton de entrada Cementerio de Colon.jpg, Colon Cemetery, Havana
El Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón, also called La Necrópolis de Cristóbal Colón, was founded in 1876 in the Vedado neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba to replace the Espada Cemetery in the Barrio de San Lázaro. Named for Christopher Columbus, t ...
File:Hotel Habana Libre in Havanna, Kuba.jpg, Habana Libre Hotel
López_Serrano_Building,_El_Vedado,_Havana.jpg, López Serrano Building
The López Serrano Building was the tallest residential building in Cuba until the construction of the FOCSA Building, FOCSA in 1956. Designed by the architect Ricardo Mira in 1929, who in 1941 who also designed La Moderna Poesia bookstore on Obisp ...
File:Cine Yara.jpg, Radiocentro CMQ Building
The Radiocentro CMQ Building complex is a former radio and television production facility and office building at the intersection of Calle L and La Rampa in El Vedado, Cuba. It was modeled after Raymond Hood's 1933 Rockefeller Center in New York ...
Economy
Aero Caribbean
Aero Caribbean (Empresa Aerocaribbean SA) was an airline based in Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana, Cuba. It operated scheduled domestic passenger services to domestic destinations and international services, and charter flights mainly wi ...
has its headquarters in Vedado.
The Venezuelan airline Conviasa
Línea Aérea Conviasa (legally ''Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos'') is a Venezuelan airline with its headquarters on the grounds of Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela, near Carac ...
has an office in the IACC Building in Vedado.
Government and infrastructure
''Instituto de Aeronáutica Civil de Cuba
The Civil Aviation Institute of Cuba (IACC, ) is the civil aviation authority of Cuba, headquartered in Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana.
The IACC was created as a result of Decree Law 85 of June 12, 1985. , Ramón Martínez Echevarría is ...
'', Cuba's civil aviation authority, has its headquarters in Vedado.
Culture
Gay scene
23rd Street in Vedado is also the centerpoint of the city's gay scene in a country which now grants many rights to LGBT citizens. At night, 23rd St. is reminiscent of a gay district between the Cinema Yara and Coppelia ice cream parlor, and the foot of 23rd at the Malecón
A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...
, with numerous gay entertainment options nearby such as the Bim Bom outdoor bar and the Las Vegas nightclub. Many of the ''casas particulares'' target LGBT clients as customers.
See also
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Vedado - EcuRed
{{Coord, 23.1311111111, N, 82.3941666667, W, source:dewiki_region:CU-02_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title
Wards of Havana
Gay villages in Cuba