History of Havana Timeline

Havana expanded greatly during the 17th century, with new buildings constructed from the finest materials, including hardwoods brought from across the island to build churches, plazas, and mansions for its growing population.

The Havana Cathedral was constructed beginning in 1748 as a Jesuit church, becoming one of the most notable religious buildings in colonial Havana with its distinctive baroque facade.

Image source: Havana Cathedral

By the middle of the 18th century, Havana had more than seventy thousand inhabitants and was the third-largest city in the Americas, ranking behind Lima and Mexico City but ahead of Boston and New York.

After the Suppression of the Jesuits in Spanish territory in 1767, the former Jesuit church of Havana was converted in 1777 into the Parroquial Mayor church.

In 1788, the Parroquial Mayor church formally became a cathedral, cementing its status as one of the principal religious landmarks of Havana.

Between 1789 and 1790 Cuba was apportioned into an individual diocese by the Roman Catholic Church, reorganizing ecclesiastical administration on the island.

Image source: Archdiocese of San Cristóbal de la Habana

On January 15, 1796, the remains of Christopher Columbus were transported to the island from Santo Domingo, resting in Havana until 1898 when they were transferred to Seville's cathedral after Spain's loss of Cuba.

Image source: Christopher Columbus

The 19th century opened with the arrival in Havana of Alexander von Humboldt, the celebrated German naturalist and explorer, who was impressed by the vitality of the port.

Image source: Alexander von Humboldt

Throughout the century, Havana was enriched by the construction of additional cultural facilities such as the Tacon Theatre, one of the most luxurious in the world, the Artistic and Literary Liceo, and the Coliseo theater.

In 1649 a fatal epidemic, brought from Cartagena in Colombia, affected a third of the population of Havana, devastating the city's inhabitants.

In 1837, the first railroad was constructed, a 51 km stretch between Havana and Bejucal, used for transporting sugar from the Valle de Güines to the harbor, making Cuba one of the earliest countries with railroads.

Image source: National Railway Company of Cuba

The fact that slavery was legal in Cuba until 1886 led to interest from the American South, including a plan by the Knights of the Golden Circle to create a 'Golden Circle' with a 1,200-mile radius centered on Havana.

Image source: Knights of the Golden Circle

After the Confederate States of America were defeated in the American Civil War in 1865, many former slaveholders continued to run plantations by moving to Havana, where slavery remained legal until 1886.

In 1863, the city walls were knocked down so that the metropolis could be enlarged, allowing the rapidly growing city to expand beyond its old defensive perimeter.

At the end of the century, the well-off classes moved to the quarter of Vedado, creating a fashionable new residential district west of Old Havana.

Image source: Vedado

At the end of the 19th century, Havana witnessed the final moments of Spanish colonialism in America, which ended definitively when the United States warship Maine exploded and sank in its port, giving the US the pretext to invade the island.

Image source: USS Maine (1889)

The 20th century began with Havana, and therefore Cuba, under occupation by the USA following the Spanish-American War, until formal independence in 1902.

Image source: Military Government of Cuba

During the Republican Period, from 1902 to 1959, Havana saw a new era of development with lavish hotels, casinos, nightclubs, and modern infrastructure that made it a glamorous destination known as the 'Paris of the Caribbean.'

Image source: Republic of Cuba (1902–1959)

In 1906 the Bank of Nova Scotia opened the first branch in Havana, Cuba, reflecting the strong North American financial presence in the booming city. By 1931 it had three branches in Havana.

Image source: Scotiabank

In 1958, about 300,000 American tourists visited Havana, drawn by its nightlife, luxury hotels, and proximity to the United States, just before the Cuban Revolution transformed the city.

Image source: Tourism in Cuba

After the revolution of 1959, the new government promised to improve social services, public housing, and official buildings; however, shortages followed Castro's abrupt expropriation of all private property and industry under a strong communist model backed by the Soviet Union.

Image source: Cuban Revolution

By 1966–68, the Cuban government had nationalized all privately owned business entities in Cuba, down to certain kinds of small retail forms of commerce, fundamentally reshaping Havana's economy.

Image source: United States embargo against Cuba

After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, its subsidies to Cuba ended, costing the Cuban government billions of dollars and causing a severe economic downturn. During this time, known as the Special Period, Havana's communist government survived despite worsening economic conditions.

Image source: Special Period

After a decline in the early 2000s, Cuban tourism hit an all-time high of 2.7 billion dollars (USD) in 2008, bringing renewed visitors and revenue to Havana's historic streets.

In 2022, at least 40 people were killed by an explosion at the Hotel Saratoga, a historic luxury hotel in Old Havana, in one of the deadliest disasters to strike the city in recent decades.