Parque Almendares
Wooded riverside park along a dammed stretch of water once harnessed to power a brewing empire.
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About this audio guide
Parque Almendares in Havana turns on the river running beneath its trees, once dammed to power a business empire built by the Herrera family, Spanish immigrants who parlayed a small ice factory into Cuba's biggest brewery. The guide follows Ramon de Herrera's gamble to save the dam and the company before his death in 1896, and the pleasure garden, Los Jardines de la Tropical, that architect Ramon Magrina built along this riverbank in 1906 to draw Habaneros down for a drink. Listen for the sound of running water as you walk the shaded paths that grew out of that marketing plan long before anyone called this a park.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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