Miramar is a residential district (''zona residencial'') of the municipality of Playa, 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.

Overview

Many

embassies A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

, including the landmark

Russian Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of Russia. These missions are subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Russian Federation has one of the largest networks of embassies and consulates ...

, are located in Miramar - in particular on ''Quinta Avenida'' (Fifth Avenue) before called Avenida de las Américas (Avenue of the Americas). Prior to the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, the neighborhood was home to many of Havana's upscale residents. There are many large houses and mansions here. This district and the Country Club (Cubanacán) were the most glamorous spaces in the Havana of the 50s. There are also some of Havana's more modern hotels, such as Hotel Melia Habana, Oasis Panorama Hotel and Occidental Miramar, beaches and private rental houses (''known as casas particulares''). Also located here is the

International School of Havana The International School of Havana (ISH) is an international school in Cuba, located in Miramar, Havana. History ISH was founded in 1965 by Phyllis Powers, a British expatriate, to educate the children of diplomatic missions' staff. In 1974, ...

. Since the late 1990s, several office blocks have been built in a complex called ''Centro de Negocios Miramar'' - the "Miramar Trade Center".

Points of interest

Quinta Avenida (Fifth Avenue)

* Casa de Alberto de Armas (1926), a restored Beaux-Arts mansion at Calle 2 by architect Jorge Luis Echarte * Reloj de Quinta Avenida at Calle 10, a large clock erected in 1924 in the central median * Museum of the Ministry of the Interior (''Museo del Ministerio del Interior'') at Calle 12 * Casa del Habano (between Calles 14 and 16) (also in the Melia Habana near the Miramar Trade Center and Club Habana) * Teatro Miramar at Calle 94 * Parque de los Ahorcados (''Park of the Hanged''), between Calles 24 and 26, "shaded by massive jagüey trees, seemingly supported by their aerial roots dangling like cascades of water" * Karl Marx Theater (Teatro Karl Marx) in the park * Plaza Emiliano Zapata, with a life-size stone statue of Zapata, Mexico’s revolutionary hero *

Rosita De Hornedo The Hotel Rosita De Hornedo (renamed Hotel Sierra Maestra), located in the Puntillarea of Miramar, was one of the first major buildings to be built by a private developer in the 1950s in Havana.The Havana Guide: Modern Architecture 1925-1965 By Edu ...

Hotel, now the

CIMEX ''Cimex'' is a genus of insects in the family Cimicidae. ''Cimex'' species are ectoparasites that typically feed on the blood of birds and mammals. Two species, '' Cimex lectularius'' and ''Cimex hemipterus'', are known as bed bugs and frequent ...

corporation, located in first avenue between 0 and 2. * Iglesia de Santa Rita de Casia (at Calle 26) — a modernist church from 1942 which mixes neocolonial and modern features by architect Victor Morales. Features a modernist statue of Santa Rita by Rita Longa * Gracious mansions, many of them foreign embassies * Iglesia San Antonio de Padua (at Calle 60) — Modernist-style Romanesque church (1949) by architects Eloy Norman and Salvador Figueras *

(1988) (between Calles 62 and 66) by architects Alexander Rochegov and Basilio Piasecki * Occidental Miramar hotel * Hotel Barceló Habana Ciudad (between Calles 76 and 80) * Miramar Trade Center * Iglesia de Jesús de Miramar (between Calles 80 and 82), built in 1953 with a magnificent organ with 5,000 pipes. The restored church features 14 splendid oversize paintings of the Stations of the Cross by Spanish artist César Hombrados Oñativa. *El Ajibe, a restaurant visited by Anthony Bourdain on his Travel Channel program "No Reservations". *Old Miramar Yacht Club, now a club for Cuban air force officers. The picture at right is wrong. For pictures of the Club go to miramaryachtclub.com. *Source
"Walking Quinta Avenida", ''Moon Travel Guides''

Parks

* Parque Ecológico Monte Barreto, 9th Avenue west of Calle 70 * Parque de los Ahorcados (''Park of the Hanged''), Quinta Avenida between Calles 24 and 26

Education

The

, an English-language international school, is in Miramar. The

Centro Educativo Español de La Habana Centro Educativo Español de La Habana (CEEH) is a private Spanish curriculum, Spanish-language international school in Havana, Cuba. It consists of two campuses, a nursery through primary campus and a secondary campus, in Miramar, Playa.

(CEEH), a Spanish-language international school, is in Miramar.BIENVENIDO a nuestro Centro
"

. Retrieved on September 29, 2015. "nuestros alumnos son hijos de empresarios, diplomáticos, extranjeros residentes y ciudadanos españoles residentes en esta ciudad." and "Sede de E. Infantil y E. Primaria Avenida 5taB y 70, No. 6815 Miramar, Playa. La Habana"

Notable people

* Cristina Saralegui was born in Miramar, Havana.

References

External links

Hotels in Miramar, Havana
Travel and tourism {{Coord, 23, 7, 21, N, 82, 25, 10, W, display=title, name=Miramar Wards of Havana Diplomatic districts