HISTORY

This intramural place takes its name from the Iglesia Del Santo Cristo Del Buen Viaje (Church of Santo Cristo of Good Voyage) that was built at the north part of the square in 1640. In the 18th century it was known as Plaza Nueva to distinguish it from the current Plaza Vieja, but later towards the end of the 18th century, when it turned into a popular open-air food market, it was called Mercado Nuevo (New Market). It became the commercial center full of boisterous town hawkers, vendors and customers, until it was destroyed by a fire in 1863. In the second half of the 19th century, the square became a public space for the recreation of the residents of Havana, receiving the name of the Plaza del Cristo.

The plaza had one of the few water boxes in the Zanja Real, the first water channel in Havana; consequently, it was a place where large number of African washerwomen were gathering that also attended the mass. Therefore, it was called also the Plaza de las Lavanderas (Square of the Washerwomen) for a while.

THE PLAZA TODAY

The Plaza del Cristo is the fifth square in the squares system of the Old Havana; at the same time, it is the one that is at least known, as it is a little bit apart from the historical core. Nevertheless, the square is an ideal place, if you want to get far from tourist-trodden areas and to witness what the real Cuban life looks like.

The square is a large, rectangular space, known by the beautiful church, constituting the final step (station) on the Via Cruz. The Amargura street terminates at this square.

In the quiet park of Bernaza, in front of the door of the former Escuela San Agustín (San Agustín School), there is the momument erected in memoriam to the mestizo poet Diego Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés (1809-1844), also known by his pseudonym Plácido, during the remodeling process of the square during the period of 1975- 1978. Plácido, the son of a Spanish dancer and a Cuban black barber, was the most published and most accepted poet on the island during the 19th century, and he is considered one of the main references of the romantic poetry in Cuba. He was imprisoned several times without any reason by the Spanish, and finally accused of being a member of a false conspiracy, so that he was shot down at the age of 35.

The monument depicts a relief bust of the poet, and a relief of a naked woman with a naked man. A verse from his poem El Juramento (the Oath) is written on the monument: extendidas mis manos, he jurado / ser enemigo eterno del tirano / morir a las manos de un verdugo / si es necesario, por romper el yugo  (extended my hands, I have sworn / to be the eternal enemy of the tyrant / to die at the hands of an executioner / if necessary, by breaking the yoke).

In front of the side door of the church a beautiful red flowering tree, known as the cardinal (lobelia cardinalis), is planted.

On the southern side of the Plaza del Cristo, on Teniente Rey street, there is a popular paladar (home restaurant), El Chanchullero.