Havana Plaza del Revolucion
Plaza del Revolucion Photos
About Plaza del Revolucion
Plaza del Revolucion
This huge monument standing 109m tall and composed in the shape of a star looks over one of the world’s largest squares measuring 72,000 square meters. Many political rallies are held here, the most important being on the 1st of May and the 26th of July.
Opposite the memorial is this famous Che Guevara image on the side of the Ministry of the Interior building. The slogan underneath his image reads: ‘Hasta la Victoria Siempre’ – meaning ‘Forever Towards Victory’.
At the foot of the tower is this 18m tall statue of Jose Marti, also weighing 18 tons. It was finished by the sculptor Juan Jose Sicre on the 15th of August 1958, having taken two years to complete it. The marble for the whole project was taken from the Isla de la Juventud near where Jose Marti spent his teenage years.
Other buildings located in and around the Plaza are the National Library and many government ministries, including the closely guarded offices of former President Fidel Castro located behind the monument.
The whole monument was built on concrete foundations withstanding pressures of 210kg/cm², which basically translates as being able to resist a wind up to 280Km/h. The weight of the main body until the very peak is approximately 21,900 tons.
The project was the work of the civil engineer and architect Enrique Luis Varela, Raoul Otero, Jean Labatut and Juan B Pujol.
After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, this area was renamed Plaza de la Revolución. The terrace provides a great view over the whole square, however, for an even better one there’s actually an elevator to the top of the memorial which no doubt reaches over the whole city.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_de_la_Revolucion
Juan de las Cuevas Toraya, 500 Años De Construcciones En Cuba, Havana 2001, p262.
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