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 gathered from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, the structure reveals its origins in the fossils embedded within the porous exterior walls. Construction began in seventeen forty-eight under the direction of the Jesuits, though they were expelled from the island before the work reached completion.