Callejon de Hamel

Salvador González Escalona began painting the walls of this two-block alley in Centro Habana in 1990, and it has become a permanent installation of murals, sculptures made from bathtubs and machinery, poems on the walls and shrines to the orishas of Santería. On Sunday afternoons a rumba is played in the alley, drums and singing in a space too small for the crowd, which is the tradition UNESCO inscribed in 2016 naming Havana and Matanzas as its home ground. The rest of the week the alley is quiet and you can look at the walls.

The main sights

• The murals - bright painted walls covering both sides of the alley, worked on since 1990.
• The sculptures - assemblages from bathtubs, pipework and salvage set along the walls.
• The orisha shrines - Santeria references and altars built into the installation.
• The Sunday rumba - drums and singing in the alley from around midday.

When to go

Sunday from about noon for the rumba, which is what most people come for. Any other day is quieter and better for looking at the walls. It is outdoors, so heavy rain cancels the music.

Before you go

The Sunday rumba is heavily attended by visitors now and has become partly a performance, with drinks pushed and donations solicited firmly. The alley is small and gets uncomfortably crowded. Centro Habana around it is poor and attention from hustlers is constant.

Nearby

The Malecon is a few blocks north, and Old Havana is east along the seafront.

Key facts