Plaza de la Revolución

Plaza de la Revolución is where modern Cuban history has been performed — a vast concrete square that can hold up to 1 million people and has been the setting for Fidel Castro's marathon speeches, Pope John Paul II's 1998 mass, and every major state ceremony since the revolution. The square is dominated by the 109-metre José Martí Memorial (Cuba's tallest structure) shaped like a five-pointed star and faced in white marble — an obelisk dedicated to Cuba's 19th-century independence hero.

The ministries of Interior and Communications on the opposite side of the square are decorated with the iconic steel-cable portraits of Che Guevara (with the motto 'Hasta la Victoria Siempre' — 'Always Onward to Victory') and Camilo Cienfuegos ('Vas bien, Fidel' — 'You're doing fine, Fidel') that are reproduced on Cuban souvenirs worldwide. The square is eerily empty most days; its monumental scale only makes sense when filled with a rally.