We have visited the grave of Ibrahim Ferrer on the cemetery Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón in Havana

The famous cemetery "Cementerio de Cristóbal Colon" in Havana was founded in 1876 and is named after Christopher Columbus

The cemetery (of 57 acres) is known for its many elaborate memorials and has more than 800,000 graves

The cemetery is so large that roads are built between the graves

We saw a funeral where the family was driving in a bus behind the deceased

There are a lot of famous Cubans buried here

We have visited the grave of Ibrahim Ferrer, the lead singer of

the Buena Vista Social Club

His last appearance in the Netherlands was at the North Sea Jazz festival on Friday, July 8, 2005

It`s estimated that today the cemetery has more than 500 major mausoleums, chapels, and family vaults

At the cemetery is a famous legend associated with a mother

who died in childbirth

The baby was in a coffin buried next to her but when the skeletons were excavated the baby lay on her chest

Since then it`s a place of pilgrimage for Catholics

The Colon cemetery has a 23 meter high monument to the firefighters who lost their lives in the great fire of May 17, 1890

Baseball is a leading sport in Cuba and the cemetery has two monuments to baseball players from the Cuban League

The first was built in 1942 and the second in 1951 for members of the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame

The cemetery is well maintained

Beautiful view of Havana from the "José Martí Memorial" on the Square of the Revolution

The José Martí Memorial is a memorial to José Martí, the national hero of Cuba, located on the northern side of the Plaza de la Revolucion in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana

It consists a star-shaped tower and a statue of José Martí

surrounded by six columns

The 109 m high tower, designed by a team of architects led by Enrique Luis Varela, is in the form of a five-pointed star, encased in gray Cuban marble from the island of Isla de la Juventud

Construction of the tower began in 1953 on the 100th birthday of José Martí

The monument was completed in 1958 during the last days of the

Batista dictatorship

The design includes an enclosed observation deck on the top floor, the highest point in Havana accessible by elevator, with impressive views over the city in all directions

Outside, overlooking the Plaza de la Revolution is a 18 m high white marble statue of José Martí carved by Sicre

On the ground floor you see two rooms with correspondence, writings and objects from the life of José Martí

A third room illustrates the history of the Plaza de la Revolution and a fourth room is used for displays of contemporary art