Yet I am an art conservator by training, and for years I had been eager to see the country’s architecture, and particularly that of Havana, where I was born. Havana is an architectural historian’s dream. Walk from one end of the city to the other and you will pass stunning examples of almost every major architectural style that has existed since the mid-fifteen hundreds. Many of the buildings are in terrible disrepair. But look behind the peeling paint and rusting grillwork and you will find astonishing details: murals, stained glass, black terrazzo, iridescent tiles, glazed terracotta, and
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