A few days away from turning 500 years, Havana continues to add evidence of how much it has been groomed to celebrate, in the spirit of a cosmopolitan city that rejuvenates itself with a look to the future, without disdaining its past.

In an encounter with the press, Eusebio Leal, Historian of the City, said he was happy to announce some works with the immediate inauguration and others soon to be completed like the former Santa Clara Convent.

This 17th-century building will house a center for academic training in the arts and crafts for the restoration and conservation of the heritage of Cuba, the Caribbean, and the Antilles, with the cooperation of the European Union.

Leal announced that on November 15, guided tours will begin to discover the mysteries of the history of this great monumental complex through the display of archaeological objects, models, and audiovisuals.

The sequence of inaugurations for Havana's fifth centennial began Monday night with the new lighting of the Castle of the Royal Force, the City Museum, and the Arms Square.

On Sunday, a star-shaped park will be inaugurated with a mast that will carry the national flag on avenues G and Malecón, where the monument with the equestrian statue of Mayor General Calixto García was located. The statue has been moved to the roundabout on Fifth Avenue and 148 and will be ready on Thursday 14.

The Cuban Railroad and the Automobile Museum, the Castle of Atarés and the Antonio Bachiller y Morales Children's Library, will also be opened shortly.

On November 16, Havana's birthday, three museum rooms will open in the south wing of the National Capitol, which will show off its exterior lighting and the lighting of the dome's lantern.