CubaPLUS Magazine

Fountains of Havana, the beauty of the eternal

By: Alina Veranes
Feb 17, 2022
Fountains of Havana, the beauty of the eternal

The fountains of Havana still have the freshness of a place near a tree and the eternal beauty of the stone that gave them life, although most of them no longer offer the kindness and magical spout of water, as was the case in the days when They were created.

So that no one misses a trip to a fountain in the capital, whose history came to the world along with the growth of the town of San Cristóbal de La Habana.

They say that the first of them was located in the old Plaza de San Francisco, around 1600, and was part of the network of so-called public pilasters that the Zanja Real had, which supplied the necessary liquid from the Almendares River to the surroundings of the Plaza de la Ciénaga, later Plaza de la Catedral.

At the beginning of the 19th century, there were 131 fountains in Havana. More were built later, though for less utilitarian purposes.

This space will only allow us to refer very briefly to a few of the most emblematic. The Fountain of India or Noble Havana (1837) stands out for its beauty and symbolism.

The Fountain of India represents a seated central female figure adorned with feathers, sculpted in marble. It is the work of Giuseppe Gaggini, Italian. It has had different places as an enclave, until the definitive one in the Plaza de la Fraternidad.

Very seductive is the Fuente los Leones (1836), which was lucky for a pilgrimage similar to the one mentioned above. But born in the Plaza de San Francisco, she returned there again, after passing through two different places.

With an inauguration date of 1838, the Neptune Fountain appears, located on Ave. Del Puerto, it was a gift from Captain General Miguel Tacón to the Trade of Havana. Its main raw material was Carrara marble.

And we end, friends, with the so-called Luminous Fountain, built on Avenida de Rancho Boyeros and Vía Blanca, in the 20th century, during the government of Ramón Grau San Martín. A striking fountain that the inhabitants of the capital cite as a reference.

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