The Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is located on the south side of the Parque Céspedes, on Santo Tomás street between the San Basilio and Heredia streets.
Monday - Friday 09:00-12:00 ; 16:00 -
18:00
Saturday 09:00 - 12:00
mass: Tuesday - Friday 18:30 Saturday 17:00
Sunday 18:30
A magnificent building stands on the
south side of the Parque Céspedes: it is the Catedral de Nuestra
Señora de la Asunción. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of
Santiago de Cuba since 1522.
According to the Catholic Church and
the Orthodox Church, Asunción de la Virgen (Asunción de María) is
the belief that Virgin Mary was taken to Heaven, as she had
completed the course of her life on the Earth. This transfer is
called Assumptio Beatae Mariae Virginis (Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary) by Catholics.
History
The first Catholic church of Santiago
de Cuba was built in 1514. It was dedicated to Santa Catalina
(Catherine of Alexandria). Catherine of Alexandria was
a Christian martyr born in Alexandria, Egypt in the 4th
century. Her feast is celebrated on November 25. There is still
uncertainty about the place where this church, called Ermita de
Santa Catalina, was built, but it is said that it was on a hill
where later the provincial prison would be built. It was a
small, wooden building.
At that time there was a church in
Baracoa that was known under the name of La Iglesia Parroquial
de la Villa de Baracoa. Pope Leo X created the bishopric in this
church in 1517.
Diego Velázquez ordered to build the
same church immediately in Santiago de Cuba, because Pope
Adriano VI, has moved the bishopric from Baracoa to Santiago in
1522. The Pope also elevated the existing church in Baracoa to
the rank of Cathedral of the Island and Religious Center of
Louisiana and Florida with the name of "Nuestra Señora de la
Asunción". The cathedral that would be built in Santiago, was
dedicated to St. Catherine (Santa Catalina).
The construction of the first
cathedral of Santiago de Cuba started on the area of the
demolished parish church in 1522. It is said that it was
completed in 1526, but it was destroyed by a fire in the same
year, because it was a wooden construction, made by guano. The
Dominican Fray Miguel Ramirez de Salamanca that was appointed as
Bishop of Cuba, started with the construction of the new
cathedral at the area of the present cathedral in 1528.
This time it was built of stone. The construction of the second
cathedral “Nuestra Señora de La Asunción" of Santiago de Cuba
has been completed in 1555.
During the 16Ith century, the
cathedral suffered many attacks of the pirates. In 1553 Jacques
de Sores attacked the city and demanded 80.000 pesos for not
destroying the cathedral. In 1562 the cathedral’s roof was
destroyed by the French corsairs. In 1586 and in 1603 it was
plundered again by the pirates; in the latter the cathedral was
set on fire, so that its repair continued until its opening to
the community in 1628. In 1662 the pirates Henry Morgan
and Dolleys stole the bells of the cathedral after plundering
the temple and setting its chapel on fire that was the biggest
chapel at that time, built to expense of Juan Alvarez Salgado in
1653.
Not only the pirates, but also the
earthquakes threatened the cathedral. In 1674 it was closed to
the community for a while after a serious earthquake. The
earthquake in 1678 was very strong, so that the biggest chapel
was destroyed, and the body of the building was severely
damaged. One year later, in 1679, a hurricane and an earthquake
shattered all what had remained from the cathedral (second
cathedral).
In 1686, the Bishop Diego Aselino de
Compostela initiated the construction of a new building (third
cathedral) that was opened to the community without having
finished in 1690. In 1719 and in 1760 the cathedral underwent a
thorough repair. Unfortunately, in 1766, an earthquake that was
one of the most devastating earthquakes occurred in the city,
reduced the main and assistant chapels to ruins, so that the
cult continued with their worship in a straw house in Plaza de
Armas.
In 1810 it was started with building
the fourth and the final cathedral of Santiago de Cuba. The
construction period of the new cathedral lasted for 8 years. It
was opened to the cult in 1818. It was built with a fortified
roof and walls, strong enough to withstand the earthquakes and
the hurricanes. The construction occupied 2.115 m2
and it had 5 naves. The earthquake in 1852 ruined the lateral
naves and the towers, and broke the bells, but the damages were
repaired in a short time.
In 1882 it received the title of
Minor Basilica from the Holy See (Sancta Sedes; the seat of the
Bishop of Rome).
In 1874 the clock tower is added to
the building that accounts for the highest point in Santiago de
Cuba. The clocks were manufactured by the brothers Don Tácito
and José Bueno.
In 1932 the earthquake Sandy damaged
the building; the towers cracked and collapsed.
In 1958 Catedral de Nuestra Señora de
la Asunción was declared National Monument.
The cathedral is visited by three
popes: in 1998 by John Paul II, in 2021 by Benedict XVI and in
2015 by Francisco.