Freedom Tower

Address	600 Biscayne Blvd
Phone	(305) 577-8544

This tower is a standard silhouette of the Miami skyline. Of Spanish baroque style, the octagonal tower was inspired by Giralda, an 800-year-old bell tower in Seville, Spain. Located downtown, this architectural wonder was built in 1925 for the Miami Daily News. However, when the newspaper went out of business over 30 years later, the building lay vacant for some time. In the 1960s, when Fidel Castro came into power, Cuban refugees started flooding southern Florida, so the tower was taken over by the U.S. government. It was used to provide services to the immigrants as a Cuban Refugee Center from 1962 to 1974. During its history, over 500,000 Cubans who entered the US escaping Castro’s regime were processed here. A restoration of the exterior was completed in 1988, however in 2002, the Freedom Tower was renovated to become a Cuban American Museum. Its rooftop terrace is used for receptions, as it provides a beautiful view of downtown Miami, the Miami Bay, port facilities and American Airlines Arena. This building was listed on the National Register of History Places in 1979. It measures 256 feet with 17 floors.