Plaza Vieja features a central fountain enclosed by a low, ornate fence, surrounded by colorful buildings with wide wooden balconies. Unlike the city's other colonial squares, it functioned as a private residential hub rather than a space…
Four Plazas of Old Havana
Walk through the architectural heart of the old city to see how Spanish colonial power, trade, and religion shaped each distinct public square.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →
1. Plaza Vieja
2. Camara Oscura
A white tower topped by a dark, metallic dome rises above the skyline of the old city. Inside, a rotating lens captures the light of the plaza below, projecting a live, moving image onto a white table. It acts as a giant optical…
3. Saint Francis of Assisi Plaza
The Saint Francis of Assisi Plaza is defined by the central fountain of the Lions, a white marble basin crafted in Italy. The plaza served as a primary point for loading and unloading trade goods from arriving ships during the Spanish…
4. St. Francisco de Asís Basilica
The brick tower of the Basilica of San Francisco de Asís rises above the surrounding colonial rooftops, topped by a slender, pointed spire that serves as a landmark for sailors approaching the harbor. Built by Franciscan monks in the early…
5. Plaza de Armas
The Plaza de Armas is a rectangular stone square defined by the low, colonial government buildings that enclose it on all four sides. It began as the city’s original parade ground in the sixteenth century. When the Spanish governor moved…
6. Palacio de los Capitanes Generales
The Palacio de los Capitanes Generales features an ornate, yellow stone facade with a series of wide, arched doorways opening directly onto the cobblestones of the Plaza de Armas. Built in the late eighteenth century as the official…
7. el templete de la havana
El Templete is a small, neoclassical monument marked by sixteen columns and a bronze bust of Christopher Columbus. It stands on the spot where Havana held its first mass and official town council meeting in fifteen nineteen. According to…
8. Plaza de la Catedral
The Plaza de la Catedral anchors itself with the asymmetrical facade of the Catedral de San Cristobal de la Habana, defined by its two unequal bell towers. The coral limestone walls absorb the tropical sun, showing deep, dark erosion from…
9. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is defined by its asymmetrical facade, where one bell tower appears noticeably stouter and broader than the other. Completed in the late eighteenth century by the Jesuit order,…