Founded in 1519, the Villa de San Cristóbal de La Habana soon became the capital city of Cuba. Due to its characteristics as port area and its geographic location at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, it became a strategic center for communications and trade between the Old and New World. Constantly attacked by corsairs and pirates, Spain was compelled to build the largest defensive system of America and protect the city with a huge wall. At the end of the 18th century the city expanded to the areas around it. In 1863 the walls were demolished and the city was developed again. From 1902 on, with the American intervention and the establishment of the neo-colonial Republic, this part of the city underwent a decline period, in spite of the construction of some buildings of real architectural value. The city’s historical section, the urban extension of the 19th century, the two shores of the channel into the harbor and its defensive system were declared World Heritage site in 1982 by UNESCO, as an international recognition for the safeguard of the historical and cultural values of this wonderful city. We suggest you to go around its cobblestone streets, castles, fortresses, remains of its walls, buildings, monuments, museums, churches, palaces, stately homes and squares. We invite you to admire its colonial roofs, stained-glass windows, ironworks, balustrades, round arches and balconies; to visit its Colón Cemetery; to sip a "mojito" or a "daiquirí"; or simply walk along the seaside, where Cubans and the Caribbean Sea melt together in a common smile. If your interest is to visit theaters, art galleries, exhibition halls, cultural centers, specialized restaurants, coffee bars and nightclubs, you will find all that in Modern Havana. We suggest you to visit The Square of Revolution "José Martí" (with its monument and the statue of the National Hero of Cuba). The Botanical Garden, the Lenin Park, the Exhibition Halls EXPOCUBA and PABEXPO, the Congress Palace, the Panamericano Resort, the fishing town Cojímar, La Rampa, the Capitolio Nacional and the fabulous nightclub below the stars: Tropicana. But if you wish to enjoy warm waters and sun, we suggest you the Santa María del Mar beaches, only 20 minutes away from Havana.