{{Infobox park | name = Parque Lenin | image = MonumentoLenin-2.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Lenin monument in the park | map = | map_size = | type = | location = Havana, Cuba | nearest_city = | coordinates = {{coord|23|01|25|N|82|21|25|W|display=inline,title|region:CU_type:landmark_dim:3000}} | area = | created = | operator = | visitation_num = | status = | designation = | open = }} '''Parque Lenin''' (English: Lenin Park) is a recreational park complex in Arroyo Naranjo, Havana, Cuba.<ref name="MEMZ">{{cite journal |url=http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1815-58982013000100009&_x_tr_sch=http&_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |title=Lenin Park: four decades later |author=Maria Elena Martin Zerquera |date=April 2013 |journal=Scientific Journal of Architecture and Urbanism |volume=34 |number=1 |accessdate=24 May 2026}}</ref> It is Havana's largest recreational area, occupying {{convert|670|ha}}.<ref name="LP"/>
Once a popular destination for locals and tourists alike, it has suffered from prolonged neglect, and many of its attractions have either been destroyed or are no longer operating.<ref name="CC"/> Many of its facilities closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and were still closed on the park's reopening in April 2022, its 50th anniversary.<ref name=CC2>{{cite news |url=https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2026-04-14-u1-e42839-s27061-nid325840-cubana-visita-parque-lenin-encontro-dejo-palabras |title=A Cuban visits Lenin Park and what she found left her speechless: "It looks like a cemetery." |date=14 April 2026 |publisher=CiberCuba |accessdate=26 May 2026}}</ref><ref name="pclh">{{cite web |title=Lenin Park reaches its 50th anniversary with th... |url=https://www.lahabana.gob.cu/post_detalles/en/13420/arriba-el-parque-lenin-a-su-aniversario-50-con-la-inauguracion-de-instalaciones-cerradas-al-publico-por-la-pandemia#:~:text=With%20a%20view%20to%20the,will%20be%20inaugurated%2C%20he%20added. |website=Portal del ciudadano de La Habana |access-date=2 April 2026 |language=en}} {{dead link|date=May 2026}}</ref>
==History and description== The idea of the park was conceived when Fidel Castro visited the nearby Rebel Arms Dam, then being built.<ref name="MEMZ"/> Construction began in 1969 at the instigation and under the supervision of Celia Sánchez, one of Castro's closest associates, and was completed in 1972.<ref name=LP>{{cite web |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/points-of-interest/parque-lenin/1335338 |title=Parque Lenin |publisher=Lonely Planet |accessdate=24 May 2026}}</ref>
The ground was so poor that about {{convert|4000000|m3}} had to be excavated and new soil put in, as well as all-new vegetation, including 80,000 mature trees.<ref name="MEMZ"/> Among the more abundant plants are "cane brava, yagruma, ficus, pine and araucaria, cedar, mastic, caroline, triplaris, cyca and various palms."<ref name="MEMZ"/> A small reservoir was also constructed.<ref name="MEMZ"/>
The park was opened in 1972<ref name="CC">{{cite web|url=https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2025-02-20-u1-e42839-s27061-nid297485-abandono-desolacion-queda-parque-lenin-habana|title=Abandonment and Desolation: What Remains of Lenin Park in Havana|publisher=CiberCuba|date=20 February 2025|access-date=1 November 2025}}</ref> with restaurants Las Ruinas, La Faralla and Los Jagüeyes; cafes Infusiones 1740 and El Galápago de Oro; food kiosks; an outdoor amphitheater with a floating stage over the reservoir; and an aquarium.<ref name="MEMZ"/> Other attractions, some added later, include the "Parque Mariposa", an amusement park with rides (possibly in response to the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971 in nearby Florida<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thecubanhistory.com/2022/08/the-lenin-park-havana-cuba-an-ode-to-destruction-abandonment-and-forgetfulness-photos-el-parque-lenin-habana-cuba-una-oda-a-la-destruccion-el-abandono-y-el-olvido-photos/ |title=The Lenin Park, Havana, Cuba: an Ode to Destruction, Abandonment, and Forgetfulness. |date=2 August 2022 |website=thecubanhistory.com |accessdate=24 May 2026}}</ref>); swimming pools;<ref name="C+">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.cubaplusmagazine.com/en/news/46-anniversary-parque-lenin-cuba.html |title=46 ''[sic]'' Anniversary of Parque Lenin |date=24 April 2018 |magazine=CubaPlus |accessdate=24 May 2026}}</ref> a steam train for transportation within the central part of the park, with {{convert|9|km}} of track;<ref name=LP/> an art gallery;<ref name="C+"/> and a monument to Lenin by Soviet realist sculptor Lev Kerbel.<ref name="MEMZ"/>
When the park reopened in April 2022, only six of the 17 Parque Mariposa rides were working, and those shut down within a year.<ref name="CC"/> <!--- Prior to the Cuban revolution, the land on which Parque Lenin was built belonged to the Bregolat family, owners of the Industrial Alfarera Cubana. The former brick factory still stands today.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}
There is a plaque that says (in Fidel Castro's own words) "Lenin fue desde el primer instante, no solo un teórico de la política, sino un hombre de acción, un hombre de practica revolucionaria constante e incesante" (which translates "Lenin was from the first moment, not only a political theorist, but a man of action, a man of constant and incessant revolutionary practice"). !---> <!--- In 2022 the government indicated that many facilities that had been closed to the public since the pandemic and many others were "completely depressed". Railroad transportation that, with more than nine kilometers of track, allowed visitors to ride to the central part of the park, was also not operating. The the transfer to the interior of the place. The main attraction, the Mariposa theme park was operating six of its 17 amusement rides and five attractions. A hydrofoil had been inactive since 2014.<ref name="pclh"/> !--->
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:Parks in Cuba Category:Geography of Havana Category:Tourist attractions in Havana