Habana

Havana stands beside a deep, sheltered bay on Cuba’s northern coast. Its narrow entrance opens into an expansive harbor, while the old town’s plazas, churches and fortifications recall the city’s long role as a meeting place for the Atlantic world. Founded by the Spanish about 1519, Havana grew from an early colonial settlement into the island’s principal port.

The harbor became a gathering point for fleets carrying American silver and other goods to Spain. Raids by French corsairs in the sixteenth century prompted the Crown to strengthen its defenses, including the fortresses guarding the entrance to the bay. Ships, merchants and officials made the city a busy center of imperial administration and trade. In 1762 a British expedition besieged and captured Havana, taking El Morro after a prolonged assault. The occupation lasted eleven months; under the peace settlement of 1763 Spain regained the city in exchange for Florida. New fortifications followed, and the growth of commerce and sugar production brought further change to Havana and its hinterland before the nineteenth century.