The dark dungeons of La Fuerza have held hundreds of Cuban patriots until death or deportation to Africa brought relief. The old stone steps descending to the ground floor are worn into veritable pockets by the tramp of feet during a continual occupancy of almost 400 years. Every outer wall, parapet, alcove and dungeon, if able to speak, “could a tale unfold.” Now all is silent save the sound of an occasional bugle, the music of the artillery band, or the laughter of children playing on the green lawn that separates it from the Senate Chamber.

The first church built on the Puerto de Carenas, as the Harbor of Havana was called by the founders of the city, was of adobe, roofed with yagua from the guana palm. This was destroyed in 1538 by the pirates. Owing to the extreme poverty of the inhabitants, and to the fact that in spite of the wealth controlled by the churches of the mother country its representatives in the Western Hemisphere, especially in the City of Havana, were left to shift for themselves, and very few contributions for church building came across the seas to Cuba—it being assumed evidently that the people of a community deserved no better church than their financial means justified—it was not until well into the 17th century that churches were constructed that would at all compare with the beautiful ecclesiastical structures of Europe. Most of those of Havana, that were built during the 17th and 18th centuries, resemble, both in material and architecture, the rather heavy, ponderous and so called Gothic style that prevailed throughout the Latin American world.

Immediately back of the old Presidential Palace, former headquarters of the Captains General of Spain, stands the former convent and church of Santo Domingo, whose erection was due to the liberality of the Conde de Casa Bayamo, whose picture until recently hung in the sacristy. This building occupied the block of ground between O’Reilly and Obispo and Mercaderes and San Ignacio Streets. It was reconstructed in 1738 and became the Royal University of Havana. When the University was transferred to the beautiful site on the heights of Principe, overlooking Havana from the west, this old relic of bygone ages, with its ponderous walls and picturesque patio, became the Institute of Havana, where students still receive that which in English would be equivalent to a high school education. One portion of the square is today used as a police station, while the church itself, with its crude stone figures of saints standing in relief from the outer walls, is practically abandoned and will probably soon be removed, for the modest type of sky-scraper or office building that is becoming quite common throughout the city.

The cathedral, one of the largest and most imposing of the churches of Havana, was built by the Jesuits, on the north edge of the old basin or arm of the Bay that extended from the present shore along the line of the street now known as Empedrado, as far west as the little San Juan de Dios Park. This church is built of the tough coral limestone used in nearly all of the important buildings that stood within the walls of old Havana. The church, together with the convent and offices in the rear, is in the form of an irregular quadrangle, covering about a block of ground, the rear facing the bay itself. The architecture is of the so-called Gothic that prevails in all of the old-time churches and convents of the Island. Owing to the fact that, up to 1899, it contained the bones of Christopher Columbus, this building has always been one of the prominent places of interest in the city. A tablet in marble, over the entrance on San Ignacio Street, states that it was consecrated by his Excellency, Pedro Agustin Morel de Santa Cruz, Bishop of Havana, on September 8, 1755. This church was declared the Cathedral of Havana in 1789.

The former tomb of Columbus was located in a niche built for the purpose on the west side of the altar. When the Spanish forces departed from the Island in 1899, at the request of the Pope the remains of Columbus were removed from their long resting place in the Cathedral and carried to Seville, Spain, where they are at present interred. The interior of the edifice, although not as elaborately decorated as are some of the other churches, is nevertheless imposing and well worth a few moments pause to the passing visitor.

The San Francisco Convent, one of the oldest churches of Havana, was completed by Order of the Franciscans in 1591. A part of the hard coral shore that formed the western edge of the bay, a few blocks south of the Plaza de Armas, formed a solid foundation for the original building which, owing to faulty material and construction, lapsed into ruins in 1719. In 1738 the structure which now occupies the spot was built under the direction of Bishop Juan Lazo. The tower of the Church proper is considered one of the best samples of ecclesiastic architecture in Havana. This building fronts on Oficios Street and extends from the Plaza of San Francisco south for more than a block, parallel with the Bay front. The old San Francisco convent is the most massive structure of its kind in Havana. Its long lofty arched passages were well built and give promise of remaining intact through centuries yet to come. The large patio in the center is today filled with flowers and admits light to the many offices, once occupied by the palefaced, sad-eyed inmates of the convent, now resounding with the click of typewriters and the tread of feet bent on the ordinary affairs of life. In 1856 this building became the depository, or general archive, of the Spanish administration of affairs in the Island. The first American Government of Intervention used it as a Custom House, where Major General Bliss had his headquarters. Shortly after the inauguration of the Republic of Cuba this property together with that of the square now used by the Institute, was purchased from the Church and continued to be used as the custom house. In 1916 the old convent, thoroughly renovated, became the permanent headquarters for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, for which it is well adapted. The custom house was transferred to the San Francisco Wharf, a handsome structure that also shelters the administration of Trisconia. From 1608 the San Francisco Church was used as the starting point of the religious processions which annually passed the “Via de Cruces” or Way of the Cross, along Amargua Street terminating at the Church of El Cristo at the corner of Aguacate Street, which was built in 1640.

The San Agustin Convent was built by the order of San Agustin on Amergura Street at the corner of Aguiar Street. A tablet on the church itself states that it was completed in the year 1659. There is nothing of special interest connected with this church other than its antiquity and its general air of isolated depression.

La Merced, located at the corner of Cuba and Merced Streets, was the culmination of an effort to establish a Merced Convent for that part of the City of Havana. It was begun in 1746 but not completed until 1792. La Merced is today considered the most fashionable church in the Island of Cuba, and during times of religious festivals the decorations of flowers and illumination of candles are very imposing. This church, and the National Theatre, during the opera season, furnish perhaps the two most interesting places in which to study Havana’s élite society.

IN NEW HAVANA

While many streets in Havana appear to belong to some Spanish city of centuries ago, many others vie with those of New York and Washington in their up-to-date Twentieth Century aspect. There are in both public and private edifices many examples of the finest modern architecture and construction, some rising many stories above the two-and three-storied buildings characteristic of former years.