Last Updated on August 12, 2020, 8:38 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Havana was once known as the ‘Paris of the Caribbean’ for its vibrant arts scene, beautiful architecture and flourishing nightlife.
Now Havana even has its own Eiffel Tower.
The illuminated four-meter (13-ft) high replica is made by a Cuban blacksmith named Jorge Enrique Salgado.
The replica of Eiffel Tower lights up a corner of the otherwise dimly-lit Arroyo Naranjo southern residential district Havana which is also the capital city of Cuba.
52-year-old Salgado, an accountant who learnt metalwork from his father, said that he has never been to Paris.
However, he said that he had seen the Eiffel Tower in movies and photos and when Salgado’s son asked him to make an antenna for capturing the Wi-Fi signal of a nearby park, the idea of making a model of the Eiffel Tower hit him.
Home Internet service is not commonly available in the Communist-run island of Cuba, but Wi-Fi hotspots have been placed in plazas and parks all over Cuba since 2015.
He said that in the end, the project took on a life of its own and they never installed the Wi-Fi antenna because they felt that it would ruin the aesthetic of the model which took months to build.
Cuba has rolled out mobile internet over the past year and a half.
Salgado said that to make the tower, his son downloaded plans, models, photos and other details via the internet.
He added that he realized that the original tower was built piece by piece, so he did the same.
Salgado said that he bought and salvaged pieces of iron railings for building the tower on the roof of his house, using car halogens for lighting it up, in a country where it is difficult to find material.
His son, Enrique Salgado, said that they based their lighting exactly on the original who helped him build the replica.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
