Why was the city of Havana, Cuba created?

Havana's location along a magnificent deep-sea bay with a sheltered harbour made the city a prime location for economic development from Spanish colonial times in the early 16th century. read more

It became strategic to the Spanish empire as a safe harbor for the loot that came from the mainland on it's way to Europe, making it the most fortified city in the whole of the empire, and a rich point of prosperous commerce. read more

Thus, it became a hot spot for pirate attacks, which in turn brought a wave of fortification by the Spanish, making it the best defended city in the colonial world. Havana became the de facto capital city of Cuba by mid 16th century, when the Spanish colonial governor transferred his house (and seat) there from Santiago de Cuba. read more

Even its poorest neighborhoods, the ones controlled by Hezbollah, aren’t as gruesome as most of Havana. Yet the bones of Cuba’s capital are unmatched in our hemisphere. “The Cubans of successive centuries created a harmonious architectural whole almost without equal in the world,” Dalrymple wrote. read more