On the east side of the Plaza de San Francisico stands the buildings of the Terminal Sierra Maestra and the Aduana (Customs House), separated from the square by the Avenida del Puerto.



The plaza is separated from the Avenida del Puerto by iron fence and an iron gate, the Pórtico de la Plaza San Francisco. The portico was part of a system of gates that limited the commercial area of the Havana port in the 19th century. It consisted of stone pillars of small size that carry a cast iron arch with the shield of the town San Cristóbal de la Habana, adorned with olive laurel leaves at each side. Although the view of the harbor from the Plaza de San Francisco is blocked by the Terminal Sierra Maestra and the Customs House, the plaza didn’t lose anything from its popularity.
The west part of the square is limited by the Oficios street. Two buildings at the Oficios street, looking to the plaza, should be mentioned: the gallery of the Venezuelan painter Carmen Montilla and the Palacio del Marqués de San Felipe y Santiago de Bejucal.
The easily-remembered name of the square was espoused by inhabitants very much, so that some attempts to change its name, such as Plaza Fernando VII (twice King of Spain in the early 19th century) and Plaza Key West (named by the mayor of Havana in honor of the Cuban freedom fighters based in Florida in 1947) were not successful.
The Plaza de San Francisco is entirely pedestrianised today. The Restaurante Café del Oriente at the southwest corner of the square and the Café Mercurio in front of the Lonja del Comercio are ideal places to enjoy the square that underwent several renovations, but a certain feature of the square didn’t change to be the refuge for the swarm of pigeons. Therefore, some habaneros prefer to call the square the Plaza de las Palomas (The Pigeons Square). On the other hand, the square is an ideal place for the girls that celebrate their 15th birthday (fiesta de quince). This tradition still continues, so that you are likely to see at least one group of girls at this age, arranged in four or five, sitting around the fountain and posing for the camera by feeding the pigeons.
 
Horse-drawn carriages are available on the street in front of the square for city tours.

THE BUILDINGS AROUND THE SQUARE

Today the Plaza de San Francisco is surrounded by some ostentatious buildings, such as the Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco de Asís that dominates the south part of the spacious square, as it had the highest tower of Havana at that time. The monastery was built at the end of the 16th century as the home for the Franciscan community, and it was renovated in baroque style in 1730.



In front of the north wall of the building you can see the statue of Fray Junípero Serra y Ferrer (1713-1784) with the Indian boy Juaneño. It is a replica, the original of which is in the Plaza de San Francisco in Palma de Mallorca. Junípero Serra y Ferrer was a Spanish priest and friar of the Franciscan Order that visited the convent in the middle of the 18th century. He founded a mission in Baja California and the first 9 of 21 Spanish missions in California from San Diego to San Francisco. The Juaneño are the indigenous people of California. They lived along the coast in what is now Orange and San Diego counties. The dates and the places when and where the friar had been born and died, is written on the plate on the statue.

The adjoining building, built in 1608, is a chapel of the Third Order of San Francisco (La Capilla de la Santa Veracruz) where the Catholics pay tribute to the image of the Cristo de la Vera Cruz. On the east side of the basilica and the chapel, there is a small garden, dedicated to Mother Teresa of Calcutta. It is an ideal place to escape from the torrid heat and to take a breather during the sightseeing by resting under the shade of the trees. Inside of the garden you will find a small Greek Orthodox church.

At the north of the square you will see the neoclassical building of the Lonja del Comercio, built in 1907.