The Catedral de San Cristóbal de la Habana, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is one of the eleven cathedrals in Cuba. It serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Cristobal de la Habana that includes Havana, Pinar del Rio and Matanzas provinces. Catholicism is the largest organized religion in the island, followed by other beliefs, such as Santería, Protestantism and Budaism.

HISTORY

In 16th century Philip II, the King of Spain, decided to send missionaries to Florida that would catechize the Indians there. Father Pedro Martinez, another father, and a brother were charged with this task. The captain of the Belgian ship that these three embarked, did not know the route to San Agustin de Florida, so that he touched first at Havana to get information about the course. Thus, the Jesuits set the first step on the soil of Americas in 1566. 

At that time Havana had about 300 inhabitants, consisting mainly of the native Indians. During their stay in Havana, these three Jesuits made effort to instruct the habaneros in Christianity. A few months later they sailed to their original destination. However, when Father Martinez landed with a group of sailors, as soon as they saw the coasts of Florida, he was killed by the native Indians on the strand, so that Father Pedro Martinez became the first martyr of the order in Americas. Thereupon the ship returned with the two Jesuits to Havana. With others coming from Spain, they built a wooden church at the intersection of the Aguiar and the Empedrado streets in 1603, where today the Parque de Cervantes is located, and started to preach to the natives about the gospel.

In the 17th century the priests of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) became the largest missionary group in Havana. As more and more of the native Indians were converted to Catholicism, the need for churches grew parallel with this increase. The Jesuits requested many times to construct a new church. Moreover, at the initiative of the Bishop Diego Evelino Hurtado de Compostela they had purchased a lot in the Plazuela de la Ciénaga (current Plaza de la Catedral) to build a new church in 1700. The plaza was located on the site of a former swamp that was drained and used as a naval dockyard. There was a small humble hermitage, made by guano and palm leaves and dedicated to San Ignacio de Loyola, on the plot where the Jesuits was willing to build their church. However, all their requests were denied by the Attorney General Luis Gonzalo de Carvajal that was against any new construction in this area, as he was considering this restriction necessary for the protection of the city.  Finally, the Jesuits obtained the necessary permission by a Royal Decree in 1721, and in 1727 they were notified that they could build their church in the purchased plot in the Plazuela de la Ciénaga (Swamp Square). According to the plan, the church would be built as the oratory of the Order of San Ignacio (St. Ignatius of Antioch) that later would become a cathedral. The construction of the cathedral began in 1748.

The Jesuits were highly credited by their discipline in following the precepts of the Catholic religion, so that the children of the wealthy Creoles residing in Havana, were receiving their education from the Jesuits. The College of San José, in that the Jesuits held office, was the preferred institution. However, the rise of the Jesuits in the society was interrupted in 1767, when the Spanish King Carlos III decided to expel them from Spain and the overseas territories. Consequently, their property in Cuba was confiscated by the colonial government. Even though the Jesuits were expelled from the island, the work had to continue, as Havana needed its church. Bishop Gerónimo Valdés persuaded the Spanish King to use the church of the Jesuits that was not completed, as the main parish church, the Parroquial Mayor, was completely in ruins. Thus, it was decided that the Franciscan friars would complete the Jesuit church.

In 1777, the demolished church, the Parroquial Mayor, was moved to the almost completed building of the Oratorio de San Ignacio. In 1778, by order of Bishop Felipe José de Tres Palacios, the process of transforming the Oratory of San Ignacio into the Havana Cathedral, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception whose image can be seen above the altar, began, and in 1782, the church was consecrated as the Cathedral of Havana. When the building was completed in 1787, the diocese with the title of San Cristóbal de La Habana was created, as a part of the primate diocese of Santiago de Cuba, and the church was elevated to the rank of a cathedral, which was officially confirmed in 1793. Thereafter the country was divided into three dioceses: Havana, Camagüey, and Santiago de Cuba. José Felipe Tres Palacios became the first bishop of the diocese of the San Cristóbal de La Habana.

When the French gained control over the Hispaniola in 1795, the remains of Christopher Columbus were moved from Santo Domingo, where they rested as the Genovese sailor wished so, to the Havana Cathedral. The ashes of the admiral were preserved in a funerary monument in the central nave until 1898, when the Spanish rule ended in Cuba, so that the remains of the great explorer were returned to the Cathedral of Seville in Spain.

The cathedral was renovated between 1946 and 1949 by the Cuban architect Cristóbal Martinez. Through complex architectural procedures the interior of the cathedral became more spacious and more luster, and the ventilation system was improved. It was one of the first buildings to be restored after the revolution in 1959. In 1982 it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.