In a formerly posh neighborhood of Cuba’s capital, stained glass windows still sparkle in what used to be the opulent family homes of the rich. The houses, which date mostly from Havana’s 20th century heyday, are today in various states of conservation—some magnificent, others crumbling. But bit by bit, when money and resources allow, the windows they boast are being meticulously restored by a dedicated team, subsidized by the state.

“We want to keep this art alive, it would be wonderful not to lose it,” said Mirell Vazquez, who teaches stained glass restoration at the state-run Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos school in Havana, and oversees a team of five restoration professionals, all trained by her. Vazquez has identified about 500 stained glass windows in the Vedado neighborhood that once housed the Cuban capital’s most luxurious homes—many built with money from the then-flourishing sugar industry.

Most of the grand old houses no longer serve a residential purpose, having been nationalized and turned into offices or embassies. There are a wide variety of windows on display in Havana—including some of the first colonial-style examples, in the shape of colored fans with wooden frames, which became a symbol of historic Old Havana, founded in the 16th century. Then from the 20th century onward, the homes of the wealthy in Vedado were adorned in styles from Europe—with stained glass windows first imported from workshops in France and Spain, then made locally.+

The teacher of stained glass restoration at the School Workshop of Havana, Mirell Vazquez, talks in front of a historical stained glass window with scenes of Don Quixote in Havana. --AFP photos

A view of the Maumejean house signature in a restored stained-glass window.

A young woman observes a stained glass window she created.

A view of a restored stained-glass window with a Ludwig van Beethoven portrait.

Young people from the Caribbean region and Cuba participate in an international workshop.

Stained-glass technique Linda Viamontes de la Torre verifies a piece of glass as part of a stained glass window she is restoring.

Young people from the Caribbean region and Cuba participate in an international workshop.

The teacher of stained glass restoration at the School Workshop of Havana, Mirell Vazquez, talks in front of a historical stained glass window.

‘Aggressive’ climate

As the country’s economic fortunes have declined—combined with a humid, tropical climate that is “very aggressive for stained glass windows,” many of the colorful marvels have fallen into disrepair, said Vazquez. Cracks, missing parts and deformed lead are the most frequent fixes her team needs to make. And despite having government backing for their labor, they sometimes have to battle to obtain the materials they need as the country faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

Linda Viamontes de la Torre, 32, has worked as a restorer under Vazquez for two years, after an initial career in health care, and has collaborated on repairing the windows of two Havana churches. “It is very satisfying” when a window is able to “regain its original appearance,” she told AFP as she worked on a panel from a neo-Gothic church.

The teacher of stained glass restoration at the School Workshop of Havana, Mirell Vazquez, talks in front of a historical stained glass window.

Details of a restored stained-glass window with scenes of Don Quixote.

A view of a restored stained-glass window with a Miguel Cervantes portrait.

Detail of a restored stained-glass window from Maumejean House.

The teacher of stained glass restoration at the School Workshop of Havana, Mirell Vázquez, talks in front of a historical stained glass door.

A view of a restored stained-glass window by an unknown author.

A young participant in an international workshop on stained glass restoration and creation cleans an antique stained glass window.

A young man shows a stained glass window he created during an international workshop on stained glass restoration and creation.

Havana’s windows—some of the best examples of stained glass in the Caribbean—and its pool of recognized restorers, prompted the UNESCO cultural heritage body and European Union to launch a project to bring young people from elsewhere in the region to Cuba for training in the field. Chloe Cadet, a 26-year-old design student from Trinidad and Tobago and one of the beneficiaries, said she was surprised by the city’s “historical architecture and the way that it’s preserved so well.”

Fellow student Franklin Alberto Sanchez, a 32-year-old from the Dominican Republic, told AFP he had learned about everything from glass manufacturing to safe cutting techniques. “In my country, there is no training in stained glass restoration and conservation,” he said, with plans of applying what he learned back home. “This was the best place for this course.” — AFP