Plaza Vieja stands out as an eclectic square defined by its collection of colorful colonial facades, where Cuban baroque buildings sit alongside structures influenced by Art Nouveau. Originally laid out in fifteen fifty-nine and first…
Four Plazas of Old Havana
Walk through the architectural heart of the old city to see how Spanish colonial power, trade, and religion shaped each distinct public square.
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1. Plaza Vieja
2. Camara Oscura
The Edificio Gómez Vila stands at the corner of Mercaderes and Teniente Rey, its tower rising high above the cobblestones of the Plaza Vieja. Built in nineteen hundred and nine, the structure serves as an early twentieth-century…
3. Saint Francis of Assisi Plaza
Plaza de San Francisco de Asís is defined by its uneven cobblestone surface and its proximity to the Havana harbor, where Spanish galleons once docked during the colonial era. Created on June second, sixteen twenty-eight, this square takes…
4. St. Francisco de Asís Basilica
The Basílica Menor de San Francisco de Asís features a high stone bell tower that rises one hundred thirty-eight feet above the streets of Old Havana. Originally founded by Franciscan friars in the sixteenth century, the complex stands as…
5. Plaza de Armas
Plaza de Armas is a shaded park surrounded by historic colonial buildings in the heart of Old Havana. Laid out in the early sixteenth century, it began as the Plaza de la Iglesia, named for the parish church that once occupied its site. By…
6. Palacio de los Capitanes Generales
The Palacio de los Capitanes Generales occupies the eastern side of the Plaza de Armas in Old Havana, defined by its square proportions and colonial baroque architecture. Built between seventeen seventy-six and seventeen ninety-two, the…
7. el templete de la havana
El Templete is a small, neoclassical structure on the east side of the Plaza de Armas, identifiable by its row of six Doric columns and simple, rectangular shape that mimics a miniature Greco-Roman temple. Inaugurated in eighteen…
8. Plaza de la Catedral
The Plaza de la Catedral is identified by its coral-stone cathedral, which features two asymmetrical bell towers and a façade that holds visible marine fossils. Before it became a square of aristocratic mansions, the site was a swampy…
9. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is easily recognized by its two asymmetrical bell towers, which give its facade a unique, uneven silhouette against the sky of Old Havana. Built primarily from coral stone…