Late afternoon view of ornately carved wooden door on the streets of Havana, door is very weathered with cracks.
Every where you look in this country, the doors to homes are decorated with carvings, fine craftsmanship and/or bright colors. Much of this custom is from the influence of the early European settlers to the current Havana area and its natural bay were first visited by Europeans. In 1510, the first Spanish colonists arrived from Hispaniola and began the conquest of was originally a trading port, and suffered regular attacks by buccaneers, pirates, and French corsairs. After the revolution of 1959, the new regime promised to improve social services, public housing, and official buildings; nevertheless, shortages that affected Cuba after Castro's abrupt expropriation of all private property and industry under a strong communist model backed by the Soviet Union followed by the embargo, hit Havana especially hard. As a result, today much of Havana is in a dilapidated state. After 50 years of prohibition, the communist government increasingly turned to tourism for new financial revenue, and has allowed foreign investors to build new hotels and develop hospitality industry. Paradoxically, while foreign investment is welcome, Cubans are forbidden to participate. The Cuban population limited work opportunities but can't become owners or investors of any property. For these reason among others, the tourism industry during the socialist revolution has failed to generate the projected revenues. After a decline in the early 2000s, Cuban tourism hit an all time high of billion dollars US in 2008.[14] In Old Havana, effort has also gone into rebuilding for tourist purposes, and a number of streets and squares have been rehabilitated.[15] But Old Havana is a large city, and the restoration efforts concentrate in all but less than 10% of its area.
Size: 3600px × 4642px
Location: Havana, Cuba
Photo credit: © Buzzshotz / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: carved, casa, door, doorway, electric, electricity, entrada, entrance, moody, neediness, ornate, peeling, poor, portal, poverty, puerta, shadows, stucco, threshold, vertical, yellow
