Plaza del Vapor, Havana
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The Plaza del Vapor was a covered market in Havana, it was completed in 1835. Its name derives from its builder Francisco Martí who became later the impresario of the Tacón Theatre and who had a monopoly of fish trade in the city. Martí had a painting placed against a wall from a bar of the ship El Neptuno, the first vapor that made regular round trips between Havana and Matanzas. "It was the image of that ship that ended up naming the building." From the Plaza del Vapor, Martí sold 50% of all the lottery tickets. in Cuba.
Plaza del Vapor, corner of Calles Galiano and Reina.
Central courtyard. Leonardo Morales y Pedroso's Cuban Telephone Co. building in the background.
Plaza de Vapor_entrance calle Dragones, Havana, Cuba
The steamship Neptuno, for which the Plaza "del Vapor" was named
History Will Absolve Me
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History Will Absolve Me is the title of a two-hour speech made by Fidel Castro on 16 October 1953. Castro made the speech in his own defense in court against the charges brought against him after he led an attack on the Moncada Barracks in Cuba. The speech later became the manifesto of his 26th of July Movement.
Fidel Castro under arrest in July 1953 after the Moncada attack.
Prison Presidio Modelo on the Isle of Pines where the Castro brothers were incarcerated. The block where they and the other Moncadistas were imprisoned is now a museum. (Photo taken in December 2005.)