07 July 2009

The Cathedral of Havana: The Most Beautiful Church.

Cuba Havana Museo de la RevolucionImage by Richard Sihamau via Flickr

By J. M. Maurette

To go sightseeing in Havana means also visiting the Plaza de la Catedral, a virtuous place with cobbled streets, full of beauty and senses, a place where thousands of people from all over the world get together each month, as tourist guides recall it.

In earlier times it was named Plaza de la Cinaga (Swamp Square), and later on "Plaza de la Catedral", it is a place that has much to do with the beginning of Havana, founded on the 16th Century in the proximities of Havana's harbour.

This square was named after a large Cathedral that was built in the 18th Century in the lands previously occupied by a Jesuit Order. Many restorations took place until this oratory became what today is one of the most impressive baroque buildings in Havana.

Numerous important gatherings take place in this astonishing little spot of Havana. Festival, music concerts and gala dinners for important groups have found the perfect venue in Cathedral Square. The weather is always nice and the atmosphere can not be better. Surrounded by a magnificent architecture and serenaded by some always excellent Cuban music can be the ideal perfect evening.

Only few steps away La Bodeguita del Medio restaurant can be found. This together with el Floridita restaurant are the most famous and emblematic restaurants in Cuba. It serves the best Cuban cuisine and its walls are decorated with pictures and autographs of many famous personalities such as Ernest Hemingway, Mario Benedetti, Pablo Neruda or Errol Flyn and so many others.

The list of personalities that have visit this restaurant extends along decades now. Today tourists can enjoy not only the best Cuban food but also in its bar the best Mojito cocktails. There is always a crowd outside taking pictures or simply dancing to music played by a small band.

Many people spend time chatting in this site which is always amusing due to the presence of guitarists and singers, as it has happened for more than six decades, when its founder Angel Martinez (deceased), used to personally inquire about the likes of his guests.

These places are almost sacred for a demanding tourist who is able to take pictures with his/her camera to take home after a truly amusing holidays. A Cuban feast for the senses. An environment to meditate and live. A perfect place for some leisure and dreaming.

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