When you mention La Punta, in Havana, you immediately — and quite logically — think of the San Salvador de La Punta Fortress, one of Havana’s first fortifications, located at the entrance to the bay, directly opposite the Tres Reyes del Morro Castle.
The La Punta fortress, as it is popularly known, was built — along with El Morro and La Fuerza — to reinforce the city’s then-precarious defenses in the second half of the 16th century, following the devastating attack by the French pirate Jacques de Sores. Its layout was the work of the famous engineer Bautista Antonelli; its construction took several years and faced no small number of difficulties.
One might think that the area known today as La Punta owes its name to the fortress, surrounded by a shallow moat dug into the rock of the Havana coastline. However, the fortification — turned into a museum after the historic center and its defensive system were declared a World Heritage Site — actually took the name already given to the site.
In the 16th century, before the first stones of the fortress were laid, the area was already known as La Punta, precisely because it was located at one of the points of the bay. Due to its strategic position, the authorities began to place lookouts and trenches there, and there was even a small fort before the current fortress, which ended up consolidating the name of the site.
Due to its past, its everyday life and its surrounding areas, the esplanade of La Punta is certainly more than just the emblematic fortress, currently under repair. It is a popular spot for strollers and fishers, tourists and lovers, whose history is also marked by the execution in 1871 of the eight medical students, commemorated with a symbolic and necessary monument.
The area is also a place of remembrance, with a bust of Fermín Valdés Domínguez, a classmate of those executed, who was himself convicted in those fateful events and who dedicated much of his life to proving the innocence of the young students and promoted the construction of the monument in their honor.
La Punta is a place of recreation and also of memory. In addition to the monuments already mentioned, the area also commemorates figures such as the Venezuelan patriot Francisco de Miranda, the Canadian soldier and explorer Pierre le Moyne d’lberville, and Generalissimo Máximo Gómez. The moving verses of “Mi Bandera” by Matanzas poet Bonifacio Byrne are also displayed.
Important Havana arteries converge near La Punta, such as Paseo del Prado, San Lázaro Street and Malecón Avenue. It is also home to one of the entrances to the Bay of Havana Tunnel and several parks, and includes both old and new buildings, such as the current Spanish Embassy in Cuba and the luxurious Grand Packard and Paseo del Prado hotels.
Photojournalist Otmaro Rodríguez visited this iconic Havana space a few days ago, and with his images he confirms that the La Punta area is more than just its historic fortress.
