Alameda de Paula

The Alameda de Paula was commissioned by Captain General (Spanish: Capitanía General de Cuba) Felipe de Fons de Viela, member of the court of King Carlos III. It was built by architect Antonio Fernández de Trebejos in 1777. The site of the old Rincón refuse dump, initially the promenade was a dirt track with some benches and flanked by two rows of poplar trees.[1] It was given the name Alameda de Paula because of its proximity to the Hospital and Iglesia of San Francisco de Paula which had been built in 1664. An ornamented marble fountain was built in 1847. Between 1803 and 1805 the pavement was tiled, a fountain and stone benches, lampposts and the marble column were added, it qualified as a pleasant entertainment for the residents of the Villa de San Cristóbal, lacking recreational sites at that time. The Alameda de Paula became one of Havana's most important social and cultural spaces and the model of the Paseo del Prado designed in 1925 by Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier.

Frédéric Mialhe_Álbum pintoresco de la Isla de Cuba. Showing Alameda de Paula [1] with the Hospital and Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula. 1840. It was given the name Alameda de Paula because of its proximity to the old Hospital and Iglesia of San Francisco de Paula.

The Alameda de Paula became one of Havana's most important social and cultural spaces, it was the model of the Paseo del Prado designed in 1925 by Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier. It was given the name Alameda de Paula because of its proximity to the old Hospital and Iglesia of San Francisco de Paula. Between 1803 and 1805 the pavement was tiled, a fountain and stone benches, lampposts and the marble column were added, it qualified as a pleasant entertainment for the residents of the Villa de San Cristóbal, lacking recreational sites at that time.

Alameda de Paula during 1940s renovation

The promenade was the subject of various transformations in the course of the 19th century; the embankment was tiled, a fountain was located there and the back of the seats was latticed. By that time it was considered the most popular and busiest place in the city. Toilets were built which increased its popularity. In the 1940s, squares were drawn at its ends, widened, and provided with access stairs and seats, street lamps were updated.[2]

In 1841, the stairs that gave access to the promenade were widened and several lampposts were added. In the year 2000, the Havana promenade was restored and extended until it reached the Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula.[3]

El Coliseo o Teatro Principal de La Habana

Partial 1853 Havana map Coliseo of Havana.

The Coliseum was the first building erected in Havana to provide theatrical performances, it opened its doors on January 20, 1775. It was located in front of the Alameda de Paula between Calles Acosta, Oficios, and Luz, in Old Havana. Built between 1773 and 1775, the initiative for the creation of the theater came from the Marquis de la Torre, who managed to gather on July 2, 1773, the most important merchants and the main personalities of the city with the aim of raising funds for the construction of the building. Shortly after, work began on the masonry and wood building, directed by the Havana architect Antonio Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar; in the year 1775, it was announced that on the 20th of that current month, the performance of comedies would begin in the new Coliseum.[4]

• Antonio Fernández de Trebejos y Zaldívar
• Coliseo of Havana
• Paseo del Prado, Havana
• Paseo de Tacón
• Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula, Havana

• Palacio de los Capitanes Generales

• Palacio del Segundo Cabo

• Cuartel de Milicias, Havana

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  La Alameda de Paula, Havana
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  Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Taller fotográfico_2 March, 1946

• Digital Photographic Archive of Historic Havana
• Alameda de Paula, old havana, the first promenade that had the capital of Cuba on YouTube

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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Havana".