THE FIRST TIME PEOPLE VISIT HAVANA THEY ALWAYS ASK TO HAVE A PICTURE TAKEN IN FRONT OF ITS FAÇADE. IT’S ONE OF CUBA’S MOST MONUMENTAL BUILDINGS AND IT HAS BEEN COMPARED TO THE WASHINGTON’S IN THE U.S., ALTHOUGH THEY ARE NOT IDENTICAL. THE EMBLEMATIC CAPITOL IS PRESENTLY UNDERGOING THE GREATEST REFURBISHMENT OF ITS LONGSTANDING HISTORY.

People from other provinces used to come to Havana and they didn’t want to go back home without having visited the Capitol. Those who could do it, used to take pictures with the Capitol in the background as proof that they had actually been to the island nation’s capital. The same happened with foreigners visiting the island. Street photographers have always been in the area with their antediluvian camaras. The Prado Promenade and the surrondings of the so-called Legislative Palace were trendy places at the time.
Nobody can conceive Havana without Prado or the Capitol. They are icons of the city. Due to its magnitude and beauty, the Capitol is the most important building of Havana and Cuba. It was the seat of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Republic through 1958. When the current restoration process is done, it’ll be the seat of the Cuban Parliament.

The Greatest Refurbishment of its History
Previous restorations of the Capitol were carried out back in 1956 and 1980. But nothing compares to what we can now make out as we go by this puzzling building. The deterioration was so advanced that Havana Historian’s Office decided to undertake the most comprehensive and all-out restoration in its history.
The works are focused on the dome, carpentry, eleven elevators, waterproofing of roofs and metal structures, and the replacement of water and power systems. The Capitol matches Protection Grade 1 qualification and this restoration process is the first step in a bid to have 21st-century cutting-edge technology installed in the building. The Cuban Parliament will be seatedhere, so the building is going to be updated with digital TV, audio systems, cameras and a whole lot more.

The Capitol’s Origins
Cuban presidents used to live and take care of governmental issues at the old Governors Palace. In 1910, Major General Jose Miguel Gomez, second president of the nation, decided to build a new mansion for the Executive Branch. He chosed the area occupied by Villanueva railroad station, in the block framed by Prado, San Jose, Industria and Dragones streets.
The loan bill was passed to build the new Presidencial Palace and an international tender was organized. 23 projects were came out of the drawingboard and the jury, after declaring that there was no winner, handpicked one of the proposals. The building’s sizes would be 100 meters x 70 meters.
The Capitol opened on May 20, 1929. On that day, with a tremendous display of splendor and ostentation, Machado was sworn in for his second term.
The Capitol covers an area of over 462,848 square feet, with 149,069 square feet occupied by the building. 116,670 square feet are roofed area. The gardens carpet over 286,137 square feet. It took 37 months to build it, a record high for such a monumental work. A National Monument. A Symbol of the Republic. Pride of all the Cuban people.