1955 Mirabal Pictorial Map of Havana, Cuba

This is a 1955 Rogelio L. Mirabal panoramic map of Havana, Cuba, issued by the Cuban Tourist Commission, capturing the city at the height of its romantic literary period in the early fifties: this is the Havana of Graham Greene and Ernest Hemingway.

A Closer Look

The map depicts the city from Havana Bay to the Gulf of Mexico and from Rancho Boyeros International Airport to the Canal de Entrada. The Morro Castle, the famous fortress at the entrance to Havana Bay, is illustrated in profile in the lower right. Buildings, monuments, and other prominent locations appear pictorially, including the National Capitol building, police headquarters, Atares Castle, and Punta Castle. Other locations are labeled numerically, and keyed to a legend situated along the map's right border. Neighborhoods throughout are labeled, as are major streets. An alphabetic street index is included along the left border, using coordinates to locate the streets on the map. Piers along Havana's harbor are also labeled, as are the routes of launches to Regla, Casa Blanca, and La Cabaña Fortress.

Paris of the Caribbean

This map depicts hard-playing Havana during a period that lured capital, artists, and writers. It reflects Havana as it was known to Graham Greene, who was convinced during his early-fifties visits there to choose it as the setting for his cold war farce, Our Man in Havana. (Our Man in Havana was initially set in Estonia!) The map illustrates some of the key locations in Greene's book: the Vedado's beautiful Hotel Nacional, Hotel Inglaterra, and Hotel Sevilla. Also pictured is Ernest Hemingway's longtime Havana haunt, Ambos Mundos, conveniently down Obispo street from his favored bar, Floridita, where he set the house record for drinking sixteen double daquiris at a sitting.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Rogelio L. Mirabal in 1948, and issued by the Cuban Tourist Commission in Havana. It was updated in several editions up until 1955. The map is well represented in institutional collections.