Thursday, 13 October 2011 14:46
Neptuno Street, one of Colón´s vital arteries. Photo by L. Calvo.
It´s possible that many of the visitors circulating the Colón neighborhood don´t know that they´re going through one of the most famous districts of the many making up Havana. In colonial times, it was an outlying suburb, outside of the protecting walls surrounding Havana´s San Cristóbal.
Many middle class families lived there, humble workers, but a little more than a century ago, with the bloody death of the pimp Alberto Yarini, many prostitution operations moved to the serene Colón neighborhood.
The invasion of pimps, prostitutes and clients consequently caused many of the families there to move to other parts of the city, although not all, and they had to live among these unworthy, dishonored occupations. Havana had other areas in which they practiced the lucrative business of prostitution, but without a doubt, Colón proliferated into the city´s biggest and most famous area for such things.
Savvy merchants saw the incessant movement (mostly male) that was happening in the neighborhood and opened up a number of establishments, many dedicated to the entertainment and dining, such as cinemas and theaters, as well as a wealth of bars, pubs, restaurants, nightclubs, arcades and ice-cream shops. These places coexisted and in some way, complimented the brothels, which were legally prohibited 50 years later.
Today, if you visit restaurants Prado y Neptuno or Casa de la Música Habana, or the famous Telégrafo Hotel (among others), you will realize you´re in the former neighborhood Colón.
This district, which recalled the name of the admiral discoverer, is now administratively named Consejo Popular Colón, forming a part of Central Havana, and which, as any other Havana neighborhood, is a historical site worth visiting.
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