One of Havana's most attractive churches, this building is all that remains of the San Francisco de Paula women's hospital from the mid-1700s. Lit up at night for classical-music concerts, the stained glass, heavy cupola and baroque facade are romantic and inviting.
Iglesia de San Francisco de Paula
Habana Vieja
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
3.24 MILES
Havana's main cemetery (a national monument), one of the largest in the Americas, is renowned for its striking religious iconography and elaborate marble…
1.18 MILES
The Malecón, Havana's evocative 7km-long sea drive, is one of the city's most soulful and quintessentially Cuban thoroughfares, and long a favored meeting…
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0.76 MILES
The incomparable Capitolio Nacional is Havana's most ambitious and grandiose building, constructed after the post-WWI boom ('Dance of the Millions')…
0.7 MILES
Habana Vieja's most uniform square is a museum to Cuban baroque, with all the surrounding buildings, including the city's beguiling asymmetrical cathedral…
Castillo de los Tres Santos Reyes Magnos del Morro
1.43 MILES
This wave-lashed fort with its emblematic lighthouse was erected between 1589 and 1630 to protect the entrance to Havana harbor from pirates and foreign…
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9 MILES
Where does art go after Antoni Gaudí? For a hint, head west from central Havana to the seemingly low-key district of Jaimanitas, where artist José Fuster…
0.36 MILES
Laid out in 1559, Plaza Vieja is Havana's most architecturally eclectic square, where Cuban baroque nestles seamlessly next to Gaudí-inspired art nouveau…
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
0.83 MILES
Spread over two campuses, the Bellas Artes is arguably the finest art gallery in the Caribbean. The Arte Cubano building contains the most comprehensive…
Nearby Habana Vieja attractions
1. Iglesia y Convento de Nuestra Señora de la Merced
0.1 MILES
Bizarrely overlooked by the tourist hordes, this baroque church in its own small square has Havana's most sumptuous ecclesiastical interior, as yet only…
2. Floating Maritime Promenade
0.12 MILES
Added in 2015 as a stainless-steel extension of the 1700s Alameda de Paula, this floating promenade is a spacious open-air platform enjoyed by skaters,…
3. Iglesia Parroquial del Espíritu Santo
0.15 MILES
Havana’s oldest surviving church has been heavily remodeled since its founding as a hermitage, built by freed formerly enslaved black people in 1638. Most…
0.25 MILES
Anchoring a new art project in the San Isidro quarter of Habana Vieja, this bold contemporary gallery is the brainchild of Cuban actor and artist Jorge…
5. Iglesia y Convento de Santa Clara
0.25 MILES
South of Plaza Vieja is Havana's largest and oldest convent, built between 1638 and 1643, though since 1920 it has served no religious purpose. For a…
6. Catedral Ortodoxa Nuestra Señora de Kazán
0.29 MILES
One of Havana's newer buildings, this beautiful gold-domed Russian Orthodox church was built in the early 2000s and consecrated at a ceremony attended by…
7. Iglesia y Convento de Nuestra Señora de Belén
0.3 MILES
This huge building dating from the early 18th century first functioned as a free school and convalescent home run by the Belemitas order. It was taken…
8. Museo-Casa Natal de José Martí
0.31 MILES
Opened in 1925, this tiny museum, set in the house where the apostle of Cuban independence was born on January 28, 1853, is considered to be the oldest in…