The equestrian statue of Jose Marti, the inmortality of an instant

From the year 1905, Havana has a statue of Jose Marti. Placed in the Havanan Central Park, the work was sculpted by Jose Vilalta Saavedra, who also did the monument to the eight medical students executed in 1871. Other famous works is the sculpture on the Amelia Goyri de la Hoz tomb, popularly known as “La Milagrosa” (The Miraculous), in the Colon Cemetery.

By the end of the 50’s of the 20th century, a monument to Jose Marti was erected the former Plaza Civica by that time and from July 16th, 1961 its name changed to the Jose Marti Revolution Square. It’s an emblematic place of the city with an indisputable historical and political significance for Cubans and very visited by voyagers all over the world.

Later in the dawn of the 21st century, another statute integrated the eternal homage to the Cuban apostle, the statute in the Tribuna Anti-Imperialista Jose Marti situated in the central interception of Linea and Malecon.

So, in a recent date, on October 20th, 2017, Havana was celebrating the Day of the Cuban Culture and in front of the eyes of locals and voyagers the equestrian statue of Cuban National Hero was erected.

A granite and bronze giant

It was during the 50’s of the last century when the North American sculptor Anna Hyatt made the equestrian statue of Jose Marti.

Unique in the world. It shows Marti riding a horse. The sculpture was placed in the Central Park of New York, very close to the monuments of the great liberators of America.

Almost six decades after, an identical and precise replica of that one is erected in Havana, a few meters from the monument to the generalissimo Maximo Gomez Baez.

At the bottom of the sculpture Eusebio Leal, Historian of Havana city stated:

“It’s one more monument of the apostle, but a significant one, very beautiful, very important. We ennoble this avenue, the ‘Avenida de las Misiones’, near the ‘Parque de las Murallas’ where there are important restored buildings.”

The statue represents Marti in the exact moment of his death, on May 19th, 1895 in Dos Rios, on a pedestal of black granite that on each side has embossed, in Spanish and English, a short synthesis of the life of the National Hero of Cuba.

It was placed facing the sea, for two reasons: so that it had the same direction of the equestrian statue of Maximo Gomez that is right in front of it and also heading north, pointing to the that country he knew very well.

Finally, it’s worth saying that the sculpture, now in Old Havana, is not the only legacy of the artist Anna Hyatt to the history of our nation. She’s also the author of the monumental group “Los Portadores de la Antorcha”, located in the interception of 20 de Mayo and Ayestaran Avenues.

The award to two decades of effort

During more than 20 years, the Office of the Havana’s Historian together with North American organizations, friends of Cuba tried hard to bring the replica of the equestrian statue of Jose Marti.

Of course, the roughness of the relationship between the United States and Cuba hindered in different occasions this noble endeavor, and it finally came true on October 3rd, 2017.

On that date, the statue arrived at the terminal of big containers through Mariel port. It was impossible to move it by road towards the capital because the top part of the sculpture would hit the bridges on its way to the final location.

There was no other solution than moving it in a “patana” from Mariel until the bay of Havana. Thus, before rising for the posterity in the 13 de Marzo park, Jose Marti rode on his horse by the waters of the Havanan littoral. Those lucky who were prowling around Malecon that day, felt the emotion of living an unforgettable and unique moment.

A detail that can’t be unnoticeable

It is said that a few steps from the place where Jose Marti fell in combat, there is a leafy “Dagame”. While he was falling from his horse, as he died, the image of the tree was the last thing caught by the eyes of the Educator.

The Office of the Historian of Havana made an effort to plant a similar tree in the same direction of the eyes of the statue. This is not a tree very common in Cuba, but one was found in “La Quinta de los Molinos” in the Cuban capital.

As it was not enough, the hurricane Irma lashed the island in September 2017 and spoiled the Dagame and it was necessary to look for another one, this time in the neighboring province of Mayabeque.

When you visit the equestrian statue of Jose Marti in Old Havana, look up as the poet did. You’ll appreciate seeing the ‘Dagame’ that will help you sublimate the instant in which death became part of the history of Cuba on May 19th, 1895.

And in that scenery of the western part of Cuba, in Dos Rios, by the end of the 19th century, a “Fustete” has rooted on the left of the place where Marti fell. There, it is too, on the left in the 13 de Marzo park on the left of the monument and right in front of the “Dagame”. Perhaps, when you visit it, both trees may have plaques giving some other details.

The monument will be officially unveiled on January 28th, 2018, coinciding with the 165 birth of Jose Marti, Meanwhile, you can visit it, take or have photos taken. But if you come to Havana close to its official unveiling, you can be part of an everlasting moment for the Latin American history and culture.

Not for last, less important

You can easily get to the 13 de Marzo Park because it is on the Avenida del Puerto. Once there, take your time to enjoy the sculpture, to feel and understand the exact moment that hardly reflects a couple of seconds of more than a century ago, but a couple of seconds that went beyond the Cuban and American history.

Later, you can sit and eat at the Ivan Chefs Justo or the Chachacha, very close to the place. Or simply walk in silence through the streets of Havana; those that in many ways have the stamp of the apostle, Jose Marti.

Originally published at havanaprivatesuite.com.