Plaza de Armas - La Habana, Cuba
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denben
N 23° 08.410 W 082° 20.967
17Q E 361840 N 2559676
Havana's oldest square was laid out in the early 1520s, soon after the city's foundation.
Waymark Code: WMV8R3
Location: Cuba
Date Posted: 03/15/2017
Views: 1
Havana's oldest square was laid out in the early 1520s, soon after the city's foundation, and was originally known as Plaza de Iglesia after a church – the Parroquial Mayor – that once stood on the site of the present-day Palacio de los Capitanes Generales.
The name Plaza de Armas (Square of Arms) wasn't adopted until the late 16th century, when the colonial governor, then housed in the Castillo de la Real Fuerza, used the site to conduct military exercises. Today's plaza, along with most of the buidings around it, dates from the late 1700s.
In the center of the square, which is lined with royal palms and hosts a daily (except Sundays) secondhand book market, is a marble statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the man who set Cuba on the road to independence in 1868. The statue replaced one of unpopular Spanish king Ferdinand VII in 1955.
Located in the Plaza de Armas, El Templete is a monument, built in 1827, which pays tribute to the place where it is believed was founded the city of San Cristóbal de la Habana in 1519. It is a neoclassical building, typical of colonial architecture, containing a bust of Christopher Columbus and three paintings by Jean Baptiste Vermay.
Also of note is that the Palacio de Condes de Santovenia, dating from the end of the 18th century, is today the five star Santa Isabel Hotel.
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