Fidel Castro signed his first agreement with the Soviet Union in 1960. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, the Cuban government relationship with Russia suffered. That diplomatic bond improved when Vladimir Putin first became Prime Minister in 1999. A few years later, Castro offered to build a Russian Orthodox Church in Havana in appreciation for decades of friendship. In 2008, Our Lady of Kazan Orthodox Cathedral was consecrated. In the sunshine, the golden cupola on this Byzantine design by architect Alexey Vorontsov shines as brightly as the 1959 Plymouth Sport Fury convertible parked in front.
