Hi to all community members and photography lovers like myself. Most of you who follow me regularly have heard of this place before cause I've been photoshooting here a lot. And not only me, since it's an all time favorite spot for many photographers. Actually I came back here once again a few days ago and the day was so perfect that it was the right time not to show the work, but to show the place for it's huge beauty.
This is a natural area in the middle of the city of Havana. Its old trees reflect how Cuban landscape looked like more than 500 years ago, when Spanish colonizers arrived for the first time.
By 1912, french arquitect Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier presented several urbanization projects for the city, among which this park was included. In the end, it was given 1700 acres of extension and it's part of a larger project for cultural and touristic matters called Metropolitan Park of Havana. The area has been considered a Protected Natural Landscape and there are around 87 species of local fauna, mostly birds, amphibians and small reptiles.
Through its very center flows a famous river called Almendares in honor of a bishop who lived nearby. During colonial times, it was Havana's main source of water, but with the course of time it became so polluted that it could no longer be used. On one side there are ruins that are said to have belonged to the mansion of Doña Josefa, the lady who once owned the land. These are still among the favorite places for photoshoots... but that will be the subject of another post.
