Cruz Verde

CA3
General sightseeing
CA Ranking: 3
Admission: n-a
Mercaderes, esq. a Amargura, Habana Vieja
  • The corner of Amargura and Mercaderes is known as Cruz Verde (Green Cross) due to a green-painted cross affixed to the northwest-facing cornerstone. The cross is one of twelve that were to be found along Amargura in early colonial days, when the Vía Crucis (Way of the Cross) pilgrimage was made each Easter from Plaza de San Francisco to Plaza del Cristo.

    The building—known as Casa de la Cruz Verde—has been restored, providing apartments (in a all-new top story of 21st-century design) for local people above the recently opened, and very popular, Museo del Chocolate.

    
  • Palacio de la Artesanía (Casa de Don Mateo Pedroso)

    Palacio de la Artesanía (Casa de Don Mateo Pedroso)  LH 3

    Strategically located on Cuba Street between Cuarteles and Peña Pobre, it looks out onto the bay. Noteworthy in this 18-century mansion is the 32 meter-long continuous balcony on its façade, one of th …

    Fábrica de Tabacos de Calixto López

    Fábrica de Tabacos de Calixto López  LH 3

    Built in 1886, the Calixto López y Compañía tobacco factory and warehouse takes up the whole block between Zulueta, Economía, Gloria and Misión streets. It has the typical ground floor, mezzanine and …

    Templo Nacional Masónico

    Templo Nacional Masónico  LH 3

    This building of imposing image is an example of conventionalism at a time when the architectural avant-garde had already paved the way for new, bolder ideas. From that premise, however, this construc …

    Iglesia del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje

    Iglesia del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje  LH 3

    Erected in 1640 simultaneously with the Plaza del Cristo around the Ermita del Humilladero–the final station of the Vía Crucis or procession of the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, which started …

    Museo de los Bomberos

    Museo de los Bomberos  LH 3

    This singular 1910 Fire Station has a simple but refined façade that features a kind of triumphal arch dominated by a central double-heighted void. Today, it houses a lovely museum about the history o …

    Faro O’Donnell

    Faro O’Donnell  LH 3

    The original lighthouse at the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro was erected on the Morrillo Semibastion and was fueled by wood until the 17th century, then by gas until the 19th century and finall …

    Casa del Benemérito de las Américas Benito Juárez

    Casa del Benemérito de las Américas Benito Juárez  LH 3

    Housed in the former 18th-century mansion of the Pedroso y Herrera family, this museum is named for Mexican president Benito Juárez, who visited Havana in 1853 and 1862. It has four rooms dedicated to …

    Hotel Presidente

    Hotel Presidente  LH 2

    This is Havana’s first skyscraper and was inaugurated on December 28, 1928. It took its name from the street it is situated in and is the only hotel that features Cuba’s coat of arms on its façade. It …

    Clock Tower

    Clock Tower  LH 2

    Between 1921 and 1924, a clock tower was built on Fifth Avenue. It was designed by New Yorker John H. Duncan, one of the architects that contributed to the layout of the avenue and who also designed t …

    Museo del Naipe Marqués de Prado Ameno

    Museo del Naipe Marqués de Prado Ameno  LH 2

    Opened on May 2, 2001, the small yet immensely impressive Playing Card Museum occupies the ground floor of the Casa del Marqués de Prado Amero, dating from the 17th century and the oldest building in …

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