The Markets of My Havana (Part 1): Tacón Market

Introduction

We begin this new series by opening the doors to some of the most famous markets Havana once had, places where, for generations, an essential part of the daily lives of its inhabitants unfolded. Havanans went there in search of their provisions: meats, fish and seafood, root vegetables, legumes, vegetables, fruits, and the entire variety of fresh products that eventually found their way onto the family table. Remembering them will also be a well-deserved tribute to a way of behaving, relating to one another, and living in that great city that today belongs, to a large extent, to the memory of another time.

But those markets were much more than simple places to buy provisions. They were true gathering places where people shared in and enjoyed the city's vibrant social life every day; where deals were discussed and closed, promises of every kind were made—some never kept—, meetings were arranged, lasting relationships were born, and Cubans displayed to the fullest that enormous capacity for warmth and cordiality that has always characterized them.

Amid street vendors' cries competing to be heard above one another, endless conversations, price haggling, and the constant coming and going of buyers and sellers, each market gradually developed its own character, its own personalities, and even its own stories. Some were inevitably lost with the passing of the years; others, handed down from one generation to another, managed to survive and today form part of that popular Havana memory that we also hope to preserve through this series.

 

 

And to begin this journey, we will introduce one of the city's earliest and most symbolic markets of the 19th century, born during the colonial era and whose history, in different forms, would continue long afterward during the Republican period.

I am referring to the Tacón Market, which some time later, due to certain circumstances—which I will not reveal just yet—would come to be known by a name that became permanently etched in the popular memory of Havanans: the Plaza del Vapor.

Historical Background and Origins of the Tacón Market

At the beginning of the 19th century, the beautiful Villa de San Cristóbal de La Habana was growing rapidly, and yet its inhabitants did not have enough suitable places where they could regularly obtain their daily food supplies.

Much of that commerce depended on vendors who set up their stalls in streets, squares, and other open-air spaces, often without following any particular pattern or order, so that, at times, the sale of food could turn into genuine chaos.

Poor sanitary conditions and the stench of spoiled food were frequent problems, compounded by the lack of control and arbitrary pricing of the products offered, often regardless of their presentation and quality.

Faced with this situation, Miguel Tacón y Rosique, upon assuming the position of Governor and Captain General of the Island in 1834, decided to confront what had already become an urgent problem and provide the area outside the city walls with a market truly worthy of a city undergoing rapid expansion.

To accomplish this, he commissioned his close friend, engineer Manuel Pastor, to design a building suited to the new needs. Pastor drew up the first architectural plans for the market. Obsessed as he was with modernizing and transforming Havana, Tacón intended to build a commercial facility comparable to its European counterparts.

The result was a majestic two-story neoclassical building covering approximately one city block, bounded by Galiano, Reina, Dragones, and Águila streets. It featured spacious covered galleries supported by sturdy columns and offered numerous facilities considered modern for commerce at the time.

Construction of that colossal facility took barely two years: it began in 1834 and was inaugurated in 1836. Its appearance represented a true milestone for both the city and the country, becoming the first covered market built in Havana and embodying a much more modern and organized approach to the food trade, while also ranking among the first markets of its kind built in Latin America.

Its social impact was enormous. Sanitary conditions improved considerably, and greater controls were established over the quality, prices, weights, and measures of products. But the market also quickly gained widespread popularity and attracted large crowds for another reason: around its spacious arcades, an entire small commercial and social universe began to flourish.

Fondas, cafés, and other establishments abounded there, alongside barbershops, bookstores, shoe stores, and numerous businesses of every kind. In this way, after purchasing their food, shoppers could take care of some other pending matter or simply enjoy an excellent snack or an appetizing lunch while watching the ceaseless flow of passersby.

The market had ceased to be merely a place to shop.

It had become one of the great stages of everyday life in Havana.

From Tacón Market to Plaza del Vapor

According to chroniclers of the time, that market, initially called Mercado de Tacón, began to be popularly known as Mercado del Vapor because of a curious story that, over the years, would cause this new name to prevail over the original one.

A well-known Catalan named Francisco—“Pancho”—Marty, the principal investor in the Tacón Theater and king of the fish monopoly in the capital, owned a small fonda at the corner of Galiano and Dragones. There he displayed an enormous painting of the celebrated steamship Neptuno, one of the vessels that marked the early days of steam navigation in Cuba and which, in 1819, made the historic voyage between Havana and Matanzas.

And because of that peculiar tendency people have to associate certain places with objects, personalities, or events, the painting eventually became a familiar point of reference for those who frequented the area.

Little by little, people began referring to the place as the “Vapor” market.

And the name caught on.

What may have begun as a simple popular reference gained such strength among Havanans that, over time, it practically displaced the original name of Mercado de Tacón. From then on, for entire generations, that place would forever be associated with a much simpler and more popular name: Plaza del Vapor.

In the early hours of September 6 to 7, 1872, a devastating fire destroyed the famous market, leaving the site practically transformed into an open-air square. Faced with this situation, authorities decided to establish a temporary market in the old Campo de Marte—today's Parque de la Fraternidad—while a new one was built on the same site where the previous market had stood.

But when that market rose again, it already bore the name that Havanans themselves had chosen for it: Plaza del Vapor.

The reconstruction of the market was entrusted to Eugenio Rayneri y Sorrentino, who used steel structures and much more modern construction techniques, once again turning it into one of Havana's great commercial centers.

The new building consisted of a ground floor, mezzanine, and upper floor, with an arcade running around its entire perimeter. Its supports were square pillars with attached Doric pilasters, while the wrought-iron railings of the balconies on the upper floor and mezzanine stood out for the beauty of their design.

For decades, and throughout the Republican period, that extraordinary universe of merchants, shoppers, small businesses, conversations, encounters, and popular characters that formed an inseparable part of life in the capital continued to thrive there.

On July 2, 1918, Plaza del Vapor ceased operating as a food and provisions market, and its vendors moved to the grounds of the former Villanueva railway station, where the National Capitol would later be built.

In time, the old Plaza would once again become a market, not to mention that its arcades had never ceased to function as one. Small shops occupied them, selling fruits, seafood, fish, shoes, hats, and other products, along with other businesses providing various services, while the upper floors were used as residences.

In 1947, following the closure of the Mercado de Colón, located in the so-called Plaza del Polvorín, which occupied the block bounded by Monserrate, Zulueta, Ánimas, and Trocadero streets, the merchants from that market were relocated inside the Plaza del Vapor.

By the early 1950s, the Plaza del Vapor still housed a great many businesses; among them, lottery-ticket sellers were particularly prominent.

By that time, the upper part of the old market had become an enormous ciudadela, housing nearly 200 tenants.

The Tragic End of a Great Colossus

With the beginning of the revolutionary period in 1959, the final chapter of the old Plaza del Vapor began.

Due to neglect and lack of maintenance, the building suffered severe deterioration, leading the country's highest authorities to decide to demolish the historic structure in order to use that privileged urban space for a new project. Plans were then made to build housing for the neediest families, and the task was entrusted to Pastorita Núñez, head of the Instituto Nacional de Ahorro y Viviendas (INAV), who had already gained recognition for undertaking some of the most ambitious housing projects promoted during those early years of the Revolution.

The project called for the construction of a large building that would bear the name América Latina and was announced as the tallest on the continent. The upper levels were to contain apartments, while the ground floor would house small businesses of various kinds, thereby preserving, at least to some extent, the old commercial tradition of the site.

The launch of the project was announced with great fanfare in the leading newspapers of the time.

But reality would turn out very differently.

The old colossus disappeared, and the announced building never progressed beyond the planning stage and was never built in its place. In time, a park with adjacent parking areas was created there, initially called “América Libre” and later renamed “El Curita,” in honor of Sergio González, one of the combatants of the 26th of July Movement who died during the revolutionary struggle.

Thus, one of the most famous markets Havana ever had physically disappeared.

Epilogue

Today, little remains of that famous Havana market—a symbol, at different times, of modernity, commerce, and civic pride—apart from photographs, documents, and, above all, the memories of those who had the privilege of knowing it.

But perhaps what truly matters is understanding that the Plaza del Vapor was not merely a building.

For more than a century, it was part of the life of Havana.

Entire generations of Cubans walked through its corridors. There, vendors' cries could be heard, prices were debated, news was shared, friendships were made, deals were closed, and surely more than one love story began there as well.

Today, that space, located in the very heart of the city, presents a very different image. The passage of time and continued neglect have transformed the site into one of those corners of Havana where it is difficult to imagine the splendor and intense life that once existed there.

Perhaps that is precisely why it is worth remembering.

Because when a market like that disappears, it is not only its walls, columns, or businesses that vanish. A part of a city's everyday memory—and of the generations that brought it to life—is lost as well.

I hope this story has sparked your curiosity to learn more about those iconic places in Havana that, in one way or another, were deeply connected to our culinary history.

This has only been the beginning.

In future installments of The Markets of My Havana, we will continue our journey through other famous markets of the capital, each with its own history, its characters, its curiosities, and surely more than one secret worth discovering.

If you have enjoyed this journey into the past, I invite you to stay tuned for our next publication and, as always, to share your memories and experiences in your always greatly appreciated comments.

If you have enjoyed this journey into the past, I invite you to stay tuned for our next publication and, as always, to share your memories and experiences in your always greatly appreciated comments.

To read the Spanish version, visit this page.