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Home Digital Channel Gallery Spotlight

Chacón Street, from Avenida del Puerto to Monserrate

Named after a former alderman of Havana, the street has a long history and a present marked by crisis and contrasts.

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  • OnCuba Staff
    OnCuba Staff
April 8, 2025
in Spotlight
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Corners of Chacon and Aguacate streets in Old Havana. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Corners of Chacon and Aguacate streets in Old Havana. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

Even without the glitter and fame of others, Chacón Street has a long history and an image that distinguishes it from the rest of Old Havana.

Its origin dates back to the colonial period, when -like other parallel arteries- it was laid out almost in a straight line from east to west through the then city center, in the vicinity of Havana’s bay. Today, it runs from the Avenida del Puerto to the wide Monserrate Street.

A classic car passes in front of a building on Chacon Street in Old Havana. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

This artery of the Cuban capital owes its name to Don Laureano Chacón y Torres, who achieved notoriety in the defense of Havana during the siege of the English troops in 1762. It is said that he lived near the street that today bears his name, on Cuba Street at the corner of Tejadillo.

Laureano Chacón enlisted at a very young age in the colonial militias and played an important role in the reorganization of these troops to confront the invaders. In addition, he held the position of Alderman of Havana, all of which earned him to be immortalized shortly after, when under the government of Count La Ricla, the streets of Havana were officially named.

Edificio en la esquina de las calles Chacón y Habana. Foto: Otmaro Rodríguez

According to old chronicles, Don Tomás Romay, a physician and scientist considered the first Cuban hygienist, lived on Chacón Street. The Artillery barracks were also located there, in a house that would later be owned by the patriot Rafael de Cárdenas. In addition, in the 18th century, the so-called King’s Bakery, which made bread and cookies for the Spanish troops, was located there.

The road no longer looks, logically, as it did in its original times. Its first colonial constructions were disappearing and others, built in the XIX and XX centuries, took their place. Some of the best-known sites of the street and its surroundings are the Archbishopric of Havana, La Maestranza Park and the police station of Cuba and Chacón.

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Famous intersection of Cuba and Chacón streets. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.

In recent years, this Havana street has also been hit by the crisis, by the growing deterioration that is spreading throughout the country. Thus, not a few of its buildings and houses exhibit the traces of that decline, while, at the same time, hostels and private restaurants, such as Ivan Chef Justo’s, where the kings of Spain had lunch in 2019, keep a better face.

To Chacón Street, with its places and contrasts, with its people and their daily survival in the middle of 2025, we propose to approach today through the lens of our photoreporter Otmaro Rodríguez.

Edificio en la calle Chacón, en La Habana Vieja. Foto: Otmaro Rodríguez

Bicitaxi in the opposite direction on Chacón street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
Alley of Espada and Chacón. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.
Building on Chacón and Aguiar streets. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.
People pass by the corner of Aguiar and Chacón streets. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.
Le Petit Restaurant, on Chacón street at the corner of Aguiar. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
Restaurant El Carbón, on Chacón street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.
República Restaurant, specializing in Italian food, on Chacón Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.
Private pastry shop on Chacón Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
Wheelbarrow driver of agricultural products on Chacón Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
Car in the doorway of a house on Chacón Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
A man chats on Chacón Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
Medical office at the corner of Chacón and Habana streets. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
Cabs on Chacón Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
Interior of a building on Chacón Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez.
Interior of a building on Chacón Street. Photo: Otmaro Rodríguez
  • OnCuba Staff
    OnCuba Staff
Tags: cuban societyfeaturedphotoreportage
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