Plaza De La Catedral Tour

The last square to visit will be the Plaza de la Catedral (cathedral square), the last one to be built. It was originally known as Plaza de la Cienaga (square of the swamp)because the water brought by the Zanja Real from the Almendares river flooded the area. In the following centuries, the swamp was drained and houses of rich merchants were built there. When the order of the Jesuits was suppressed in the 1700s their oratory was given to the bishop as the Cathedral of Havana. In the 20th century, the square, the cathedral, and the surroundings were fully restored.

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The Plaza de La Catedral Square of Old Havana is the most uniform of the four main Colonial squares in Old Havana. This square is an authentic museum of Cuban Baroque, as all the buildings in it, including the Cathedral, dating back to the 18th century. In this Square Empedrado and San Ignacio Street come together.

Some of the most relevant buildings in this square, apart from the San Cristóbal de La Habana Cathedral are Palacio de los Marqueses de Aguas Claras Palace; Conde de Lombillo Palace; Marqués de Arcos Palace; Condes de Casa Bayona Palace, which is currently houses the Colonial Art Museum; and the Wifredo Lam Center, a small museum and gallery dedicated to Wifredo Lam, one of the best-known modern Cuban Artists.

In Chorro Alley, starting in the square is the Experimental Graphics Art Workshop, where Cuban artists work with metal sheeting, lithographs, and serigraphs. They do high-quality samples of Cuban plastic arts. These works are also at affordable prices.

This is the newest of the four main squares in the city, its origins dating back to the 1700s. At the end of the 16th century, it was a marshy area, the reason for which it is nowadays known as La Ciénaga (the swamp). The Zanja Real stretched to this point, an open channel that provided the city with water. After its surroundings were built and the area drained, the square as we know it was built.