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• Editorial Articles
• Culture and Traditions
• 11 / 03 / 2006

Despite the strong opposition of the Havana city attorney to construct in the old Plaza de la Cienaga, the interest of the prelate Don Diego Avelino de Compostela was even stronger when building there a school and mission for the Jesuit priests. In 1700, the religious order built a humble chapel. This is the oldest background information of what it is today the Havana Cathedral.

In 1767, Charles the Third expelled the Jesuit officials from Spain. Later, the high parish church changed its dilapidated façade to this place and Don Jose Felipe Trespalacios finished it. He was the first bishop of the Havana Diocese in 1788 who became it into the Cathedral dedicated to the Holy Blessed Virgin.

A crucial period in the history of this Cathedral was at the time of Prelate Juan Jose Diaz de Espada y Fernandez de Landa. In the year 1820, he replaced the original baroque altars including the high altar that Spanish Antonio Solá redesigned it. The new ones were of neoclassic style that we could appreciate today. There are also eight large paintings of Juan Bautista Vermay, copy of originals by Rubens and Murillo. The high altar is a real marbles and goldsmithing filigree. It is also worth mentioning the mahogany retable with 22 catholic martyrs and apostles and the fresco paintings by Giuseppe Perovani.

In the forties of last century, the original ceilings were changed by those made of stone in vault way that are kept today. This change improved the lighting of the temple as well as its ventilation and at the same time, it increased the atmosphere of bigness, typical of this type of building.

The stone mobility in its interior and façade is an admirable aspect of this construction. This undulating construction finishes with a gentle line all the run over the arcades assimilating the volume of pilasters with an exact ad careful proportion.

Pope John Paul II visited this place during his visit to Cuba on January 24th,1998.

The façade, by Pedro Medina, is a masterpiece of the Cuban baroque style and it is considered one of the most outstanding works of Latin America.