Havana, Officially Now, a "World Marvel" City
It's official. Havana entered the list of the seven Wonder Cities of the modern world, after hundreds of millions of people around the world voted for it during the third contest organized by the Swiss foundation New Seven Wonders.
Havana was chosen as the Marvel of the modern world among 1,200 metropolis of 200 countries of the planet, for its human heritage, the warmth of its environment and the charisma and joviality of its inhabitants. The appointment was made formally in the forecourt of the Castle of San Salvador de la Punta, where the monument and memorial plaque were unveiled to make clear the City's winning selection.
With this recognition Havana, the marvel of Cuba, is now entering the global memory of the seven cities that each of the citizens of the Earth will remember. The new commitment, along with the other laureate countries, is to make that memory grow and develop, "said Bernard Weber, founding president of the N7W Foundation, speaking during the event on the esplanade.
"We dedicate to Fidel this recognition that fills us with healthy pride and commitment," said Marta Hernández Romero, president of the Provincial Assembly of People's Power in Havana, who praised the city's patrimonial values, while recognizing its important degree of Deterioration, "which has led us to a strategy of recovery of the heritage that is treasured in it and, in a very special way, the Historic Center of Old Havana.
To be recognized by a universal consensus is very important, said Eusebio Leal Spengler, City Historian, speaking to the press shortly after the conclusion of the ceremony, which was attended by Mercedes López Acea, a member of the Political Bureau of the Committee Central Party and its first secretary in Havana, and Julian Gonzalez, Minister of Culture, among other personalities.
