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• Editorial Articles
• Culture and Traditions
• 10 / 25 / 2006

One of the greatest architectonical jewels of Havana, raised as it were an island of art and spirituality, located in the middle of Avenida del Puerto on the Oficios and San Ignacio streets. The San Francisco de Paula church keeps a three- centurys history.

At the beginning in the 17th Century there was a hospital for poor women next to this church that later became into The Maternity and Midwives School. All this transformations were eventually carried out as the centuries went by and due to hurricanes and the public charity. The space that used to be the chapel of the hospital is the one that today still remains, the rest of the building was demolished in 1946 when the Avenida del Puerto was rebuilt. However, this chapel was in a state of neglect until the end of the 20th Century when the Office of the Historian of the City included it in the restoration program to become the church in a concert hall devoted to old-fashioned music.

This beautiful place features one of the finest stained-glass windows that today we can find at the historical center of Havana, thanks to the artistic talent of Rosa Maria de la Terga and painter Nelson Dominguez. Other important architectonical elements were saved like the Doric columns of the façade, the baroque belfry and some fragments of mural paintings while new large doors revitalized the original woodwork.

Many Cuban prestigious artists worked in the new chapel at the entrance of Paula street, the same street where our Cuban apostle Jose Marti was born. The marble altar was made by Juan Quintanilla, Aniceto Diaz and Isabel Jimeno who carried out the ceramic murals while a great triptych showed the mastery of Cosme Proenza; Zaida del Rio was inspired by the Way of the Cross and re-created it in 14 works. The great carving of San Francisco de Paula was sculpted in Honduran mahogany by Duvergel. Those are some of the many jewels of the Cuban contemporary art.

In the central area of the new church lie the remains of the great Cuban musician Brindis de Salas known as the Paganini of this land. Beneath the bronze cross are kept 38 bones found during the archeological excavations.

The masses of yesteryear have changed their rituals nowadays but they maintain the same objective of spiritual uplifting. However, today it is just the music that takes the most important role, the ancient music. Ars Longa is the name of the host musical group of the San Francisco de Paula concert hall. Those talented artists make to relive art from Middle Age to Baroque using replicas of original instruments, costumes and clothes typical of those times. The group, conducted by Teresa Paz, has organized international seasons and festivals like the festival of Ancient Music honoring Esteban Salas to be held every year.