PLAZA DE LA CATEDRAL

The Plaza de la Catedral is one of the most beautiful squares in the city, the most famous anyway. The most harmonious too. It is considered the best preserved colonial architectural complex in Latin America. The pavement is arranged in such a way as to form a cross in the center (you would have to be at a high altitude to see this clearly). Unlike the most famous squares in Europe, this one was designed on a modest, human scale. Musicians often perform in the café to the left of the cathedral. A plaque recalls the visit of Pope John Paul II to Havana in January 1998. The first documents, at the end of the 16th century, mention the square as Plaza de la Ciénaga (Marsh Square), because of the waters that, in the rainy season, turned it into a pond. In 1592, a fresh water tank was built in the Callejón del Chorro (Water Fountain Alley) to supply ships. The marsh was drained in the 17th century, and at the beginning of the 18th century the construction of some of the buildings that we see there today began. At the end of the 18th century, the former Jesuit church was consecrated as a cathedral, and the square took on its present name. In addition to the Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Habana, other notable buildings frame the square: the Palacio de los Marqueses de Aguas Claras, the Palacio del Conde de Lombillo, the Palacio del Marqués de Arcos, the Palacio de los Condes de Casa Bayona and the Wifredo Lam Contemporary Art Center.