Photo Feature by Idania Cardenas
HAVANA TIMES – Since the 16th century, in Casa Blanca, across the bay from downtown Havana, a storage facility was built to keep items that could not fit in the warehouses of the city. According to tradition, that building was always painted white. It is on the southern slope of the La Cabaña fortress that Spain’s Royal Treasury built these warehouses for storing surplus items that could not fit in those constructed in the city.
As the warehouses were painted white, which was very unusual for this type of building, the locals and workers would tell the boatman, “Take me to the White House.” Through constant use and custom, the area became permanently known as Casa Blanca, and the name has endured to this day. In Havana, it is commonly pronounced as “Casablanca,” though written texts refer