Convento e Iglesia de la Merced

CA5
Top Pick
Church / other
Architectural style: Baroque
CA Ranking: 5
Best for: Beautiful church / Outstanding collection of religious paintings
Open: 8am-5pm daily
Admission: Free
Cuba #806, e/ Merced y Paula (Leonor Pérez), Habana Vieja
  • Built between 1865 and 1867, this is arguably one of Havana’s most lush churches. The temple stands opposite a small square and its façade, constructed in Baroque style, features the principal door with its round arch and central niche. The niche, presbytery, cupola and naves were decorated in 1904 by prestigious Cuban artists. The Lourdes Chapel, inaugurated in 1876 and decorated with beautiful mural paintings by prestigious Cuban artists, is the most outstanding pictorial collection within Cuban religious colonial architecture.

    Its lavish robin-eggshell blue interior has high arches and frescoes covering the chapel and cupola. The Capilla de Lourdes (Lourdes Chapel) has an outstanding collection of religious paintings by renowned Cuban artists: Esteban Chartrand, Miguel Melero, Pidier Petit and Juan Crosa, among others. The other chapel has a peaceful grotto. The convent’s serene courtyard has interesting statuary.

    Opening hours: 8am-noon, 3-5pm daily; Mass: 9am Mon-Sat; 9am, noon Sun

    
  • El Templete

    El Templete  LH 3

    Built in 1827, El Templete commemorates the first mass and town council held in the city, at the foot of a ceiba tree that grew on the northeast corner of what would soon evolve as the Plaza de Armas. …

    Museo del Tabaco

    Museo del Tabaco  LH 3

    Housed in an 18th-century mansion that once belonged to merchant Don Bartolomé Luque, this modest museum displays lithographic prints, old pipes and lighters, early cigar boxes and ashtrays, furniture …

    Fundación Alejo Carpentier (Casa de la Conde de la Reunión)

    Fundación Alejo Carpentier (Casa de la Conde de la Reunión)  LH 3

    On Empedrado Street, between Cuba and San Ignacio, a few doors from the famous Bodeguita del Medio, stands this building which belonged to Don Santiago de la Cuesta, Conde de la Reunión. Its style is …

    Zoológico de La Habana

    Zoológico de La Habana  LH 3

    Opened in 1939, this is Cuba’s oldest zoo. It is also known as Zoológico de 26 and is one of the most popular places for Cuban families to visit. And although there are many different species, monkeys …

    Hotel Habana Riviera

    Hotel Habana Riviera  LH 3

    This hotel was opened in December, 1957, with a performance by Ginger Rogers at the Copa Room cabaret and was blessed by Cardinal Manuel Arteaga just a few days later. The construction is a fantastic …

    Museo Palacio de Gobierno – Cámara de Representantes

    Museo Palacio de Gobierno – Cámara de Representantes  LH 3

    Immediately south of the Convento de San Francisco de Asís, the squat yet imposing neo-classical building raised atop stairs served as the original Cámara de Representantes—the Republican House of Rep …

    Edificio López Serrano

    Edificio López Serrano  LH 3

    It is considered the first Cuban skyscraper as it reproduces, on a modest scale, the model of tall New York buildings, conceived with layered fittings in order to let air and light in. The linear and …

    Casa del Capitán Gaspar Rivero de Vasconcelos

    Casa del Capitán Gaspar Rivero de Vasconcelos  LH 3

    On the corner of Obrapía and San Ignacio Streets, one block west of Mercaderes, stands one of the oldest and best preserved homes in Havana, and despite its relatively simplicity, one of its most stri …

    Museo de Arqueología (Casa de Juana Carvajal)

    Museo de Arqueología (Casa de Juana Carvajal)  LH 3

    Housed in the Casa de Juana Carvajal, this museum is the result of archaeological studies in the Historic Center and the preservation efforts made by the City Historian’s Office. Inside is a fascinati …

    Convento e Iglesia del Carmen

    Convento e Iglesia del Carmen  LH 3

    In 1923, members of the order of the Carmelites purchased a lot on the corner of Avenida del Presidente Menocal and Neptuno, where first they created a provisional chapel and later erected the majesti …

    « 16 of 22 pages »