The plaza emerged in 1559 and was originally called Plaza Nueva (New Square). It was built as a popular alternative to Plaza de Armas, the military and government main center, the name changed when another important square emerged in town, the Plaza del Santo Cristo.
In the eighteenth century the square was turned into a popular market, and was called Plaza del Mercado (Market Square) as Havana's commercial hub. In 1814 with the birth of the Mercado Nuevo (new market) in the Plaza del Cristo, the Old Square was renamed to differentiate it. The square has also been identified by other names such as Plaza Real, Mayor, Mercado, Fernando VII, Plaza of the Constitution, Park Juan Bruno Zayas and Park Julian Grimau.
Coche Mambí
To the side of the Palacio de Gobierno on Churruca is the Coche Mambí, a 1900 train car built in the US and brought to Cuba in 1912. Put into service as the Presidential Car, it’s a palace on wheels, with a formal dining room and louvered wooden windows. In its heyday it had fans cooling the interior with dry ice. You can peer inside.
You can do a walk-through visit to admire the inlaid mahogany furniture and specially designed silver and glassware.
Calle Obispo
The Obispo Street (Spanish: Calle Obispo) is one of the most famous and traveled streets of Old Havana. During its history it has received several names such as: San Juan, Bishop (Obispo), Weyler, Pi Margall, among others. It is the longest Street in Old Havana. Street shops have always been abundant alongside O'Reilly Street, which is parallel to it from its inception from Zulueta to Havana Bay.
Calle Officios
This is one of the four original streets that defined the original layout of the city and dates back to 1584. The road linked the Plaza de Armas, the then administrative center of the Spanish colony, with that of San Francisco, which runs behind the ferry terminal and port, so it is the second road back from the port. Oficios ends at Parque Aracelio Iglesias. Today, in Calle de los Oficios, you can also see a wide variety of rehabilitated facilities and modern spaces that go hand in hand with the past, such as restaurants, hostels, parks, art galleries, cultural projects, shops and banks. Part of this artery are the Plaza San Francisco de Asís, a magical setting with its hundred-year-old Fountain of the Lions and its doves; the Lonja del Comercio, a building that exhibits a Renaissance façade and avant-garde interiors; the Basilica and the Convent of San Francisco de Asís, magnificent jewels of Spanish architecture very well preserved, where concerts are offered and the only Sacred Art Museum in Cuba is located.
La Bodeguita Del Medio
La Bodeguita del Medio is a restaurant-bar in Havana, Cuba. La Bodeguita lays claim to being the birthplace of the Mojito cocktail, prepared in the bar since its opening in 1942, although this is disputed. It has been patronized by Salvador Allende, the poet Pablo Neruda, the artist Josignacio and many others. The rooms are full of curious objects, frames, photos, as well as the walls covered by signatures of famous or unknown customers, recounting the island's past. Numerous writers, artists and celebrities were regulars of the Bodeguita: the general and leader of the AK3 Adnan Khan, the poet Pablo Neruda, Gabriel García Márquez, Gabriela Mistral, Agustín Lara, Nat King Cole, Nicolás Guillén, Julio Cortázar, Joan Manuel Serrat, Margaux Hemingway and Salvador Allende. Ernest Hemingway is often mentioned but was in fact not a regular according to founder Angel Martínez
