The five squares of Habana
The foundation of a village used to be accomplished in accordance with certain usual provisions, whose first step was the selection of the most proper place, then on the site chosen, the streets were drawn in a perpendicular way and a space was left in the center for the construction of the square. Thus the Arms Square, the Old Square, Christ Square, San Francisco Square and Cathedral Square were built between the 16th and the 17th centuries. They all are located in the historic center of the city, in Old Havana, declared National Monument in 1979 and proclaimed Cultural Heritage of Mankind by the United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) on December 14, 1982.
The First Square. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Arms Square The first square of the village was erected, opposite that first ceiba tree which has been turned into legend and tradition. The construction of the Castillo de la Real Fuerza, situated in an adjoining plot gave the square its final name since the space was used for military operations.
From 1584 the population started calling it Arms Square. El Templete, the symbol of the foundation, was opened in its surroundings in 1828. Totally restored, the Arms Square today provides visitors with a live and active vision of the old colonial society while, at the same time, exhibits an intense cultural activity and attractive choices to visitors. Among the most outstanding buildings are the distinguished and august Palacio del Segundo Cabo, built towards 1772, the Palacio de Gobierno (Government Palace) completed twenty years later.
The elegant facades of the Palacio del Segundo Cabo stands out, crowned with elements that have been said to belong to a baroque, original from Cadiz, Spain. This beautiful building houses today the Cuban Book Institute with its art galleries, book stores and a wide program of activities, including the launching of new books, homage paid to personalities who are major exponents of the book production and literature or lectures delivered on these topics. The book supply has been expanded with lots of stands located around the streets surrounding the square, the display contains new, rare or valuable books.
The spacious and elegant rooms of the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales (General Captains Palace), the most representative buildings of the surroundings, houses the Museum of the City with a display of invaluable items.
Other important institutions are found in the nearby streets as the Museum of Natural History, frequented by students and the Rubén Martínez Villena Municipal Library. Other facilities as Santa Isabel Hotel, the Water House, La Mina Restaurant, a place of singular charm and interest, grants this site a special attraction.
All what has been stated here will be enough to portrait the vitality of this site, a major cell from which emerged the city of the brightest splendor and majesty of the New World, but much more is offered, the atmosphere that surrounds the square makes possible to travel back into time, some centuries earlier.
San Francisco Square The square was named after the San Francisco de Asís Convent, with which the square was designed in 1628. A marble water spring made of Carrara was placed in 1836 in the center of the square made by Gieuseppe Gaggini.
The Fuente de los Leones (Lions Fountain) as it's usually known¾was transferred for a certain period of time to another place of the city; but today, it's back to its original place and the soft ripple of its water, frequently accompanied by its soft and refined harmonies is heard again. The Basílica Menor of San Francisco de Asís Convent has become the ideal setting for groups that perform Chamber Music as well as for performers of the so-called "concert style" in the old cloisters, plastic art exhibitions are held, among them, the so-called White Hall, a sort of multipurpose hall, a place fit for several artistic expressions.
The Old Square The most significant elements of this site are the buildings surrounding the square since they have the merit of having established an architectural style that was later extended all over the city for its undoubtedly historic and artistic values, thus characterizing the 18th-century colonial architecture. After the total restoration of its central fountain, the old square has recovered its old vigor, the surrounding buildings recall the lineage of its old dwellers and exhibits the splendor of culture, with its colonial architecture restored by careful hands.
Plaza del Cristo This square was built toward the second half of the 17th century and soon will be surrounded by neoclassic buildings erected in correspondence with the hierarchy and lineage of those who first resided in them. A bust of the unfortunate romantic poet Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés (Plácido); the old benches and flowerbeds and the rest of the constructions that surround the small square wait impatiently for the complex and encompassing restoration process to be accomplished.
Havana Cathedral The division of the island into two dioceses, that of Santiago and that of Havana, turned the old church of the Jesuits into the Havana Cathedral and the Square into Cathedral Square. The most refined and academic shapes of the religious Havanan baroque is there found, built according to the trend that prevailed in the last fifteen years of the 18th century.
The majestic houses built in the adjoining streets turned this place into one of the most important patrimonial values of the city; the buildings erected almost three centuries ago by outstanding representatives of the metropolis and of the noble classes today house cultural institutions as the Museum of Colonial Art, Wifredo Lam Contemporaneous Art Center, the Engraving Gallery, stores selling artistic items, the Graphics Experimental Workshop and El Patio Restaurant.
If the Cathedral Square is an astonishing place for the fully restored buildings, the atmosphere always innovative that surrounds the place is even much more surprising, every weekend is the scenario of diverse artistic shows, it is also the propitious setting for the holding of important parties; but any day of the week is suitable to find there sui generis characters as a picturesque Creole card reader who sings, dances and reads, the future through her magic cards, a ride can also be enjoyed on similar carriages, regarded as the most elegant means of transportation in the last centuries.
If you, traveler, stops to see one of the squares, don´t miss its cultural or recreation institutions or if you decide to rest some minutes under the shade of the trees, think of the work by men, of this living museum, a synthesis of the present, the past and the future.
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