Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asis - La Habana, Cuba
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denben
N 23° 08.225 W 082° 20.923
17Q E 361912 N 2559333
Now a concert hall, the Basilica de San Francisco de Asis is located at the Plaza de San Francisco de Asis in Havana, Cuba.
Waymark Code: WMV6NF
Location: Cuba
Date Posted: 03/04/2017
Views: 2
Initiated in its present form in 1716, this religious edifice was the most important symbol of the presence of the Franciscan order in Havana. It is a remake of an original, far simpler church completed by the Franciscans in 1591 but which was seriously damaged by storms in 1680 and 1692, and by a hurricane that toppled its tower in 1694.
In 1762, during the year of the British control over Havana, the basilica was used for Anglican services. Thereafter it was considered by the Catholic Church to have been desecrated by Protestants and never again served as a house of worship, although the monks continued to occupy the convent.
The church marked the starting point for the procession of the Vía Crucis (Stations of the Cross) on Good Friday that led down Calle Amargura and ended at the Iglesia del Santo Cristo, in the Plaza del Cristo.
Today the church, with its excellent acoustics, is one of Havana’s finest concert halls, home to the renowned all-female chamber orchestra Camerata Romeu and the venue for a regular series of classical, choral, and contemporary concerts.
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