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This immense national effort has a
long history, having begun in the nineteenth century with a
series of hard-fought wars during which the attempts of
intelligent and ambitious Cubans to achieve independence
from Spain only ultimately resulted in the island's being
delivered into the hands of the United States of America. The
North American grip was broken by the 1959 Revolution but its
influence is unlikely ever to cease, due to the island's close
geographical proximity to its 'neighbour to the north'. Overseas
admirers of the restoration of Old Havana feel that this is a fact
which the Habaneros would do well to bear in mind, given the
potential for cultural disaster which a new American control over
Cuba would bring.
The organisation responsible for the renaissance of Cuba's capital is the Office of the City Historian. The post of City Historian is a time honored institution in Latin American cities, with some having had a historian since the eighteenth century. Havana remained without a historian until the early twentieth century, having throughout its existence been a city in which the inhabitants lived for the moment, rather than with any particular awareness of or respect for posterity. However, Havana has never been bombed, or developed, and the majority of its historical buildings are constructed of materials so monumental that it takes a great deal of hard work to completely destroy them.
This is not to say, however, that Old Havana's grand palaces, churches and mansions are in a satisfactory state of repair. Although the city has never experienced attack by the forces of man, those of time have wrought havoc with plaster, metal, glass and wood. The massive mahogany and cedar beams used for construction at a time when the island of Cuba was thickly covered with ancient forests of hardwoods have suffered severely from centuries of depredations by energetic termites. It is often the case that only the facades of noble old buildings have survived relatively intact; with collapsing floors throughout their interiors there is little left to be saved internally. In these cases, huge efforts are made to shore up the facades, and indeed the conservation teams of the Office of the City Historian are highly expert at propping up structures, given that there are 900-odd important buildings within the area of what was the walled city of Havana, amongst which well over half urgently require attention.
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