Trinidad’s cathedral, the Iglesia Mayor de la Santísima
Trinidad, stands with its 500-year history in the most dominant
position of Plaza Mayor. This Catholic church, which was
destroyed by pirates and hurricanes, was rebuilt and survived to
the present day. Dedicated to the Virgin of Mercy and the Christ
of the True Cross, it is one of the oldest and largest churches
in the country.
History
The archive of the Spanish crown testifies that Diego Velázquez
de Cuéllar, the first Spanish governor of Cuba, arrived at the
Guaurabo river near Jagua at the end of 1513, and ordered the
reconnaissance of the area, as he had the intention to establish
a new colony here. Thus, at the beginning of 1514 the town
Santísima Trinidad was founded on the banks of the Arimao river
near Jagua Bay.
Parallel to the founding of the town, the first church was
built. Although the location of the first church in Trinidad has
not been elucidated to date, it is known that it was destroyed
by huricane in 1526. The simple temple was made of board and
guano.
Bishop Juan del Castillo mentioned the existence of a church in
which the locals never saw a priest, although it was consecrated
between 1569 and 1570. He also stated that the same priest
served in Trinidad, Santi Spíritus and Remedios.
In the same period, there was a rustic hut at the foot of the
canyon of the river Guaurabo, and next to it, a huge guayacán
wood cross that was placed in the early days of civilization by
the Trinatarian friar Nazario. The place was called Santa Cruz
de la Piedad. The Ermita de la Santa Cruz de la Piedad, also
known as the Ermita del Calvario, would be built here later in
the 19th century.
We know that on the site of the current Iglesia Mayor de la
Santísima Trinidad there was a parish church before. The history
of the Parish Church dates back to 1585, according to the
preserved records kept by the priests and the baptism
certificates. These records consist of some sheet of papers that
were made difficult to read by the annotions of the Procurator
Francisco de Puebla, commissioned by Bishop Fray Antonio Salerdo
in 1597. From these records it is understood that two Franciscan
priests served in a house at the intersection of Guaurabo and
Gutiérrez streets, near the Indian's cave.
In 1611, the church was stopped being called Iglesia Parroquial
and the name Iglesia Parroquial Mayor started to be used
instead. Thus, from 1611 onwords, the word “Mayor” appears in
baptismal records when referring to the Santísima Trinidad
Parish Church. This situation indicates the existence of a
second church. Records from that time show that the baptized
were given exorcisms and blessings because they were "possessed"
in the church's view.
Later, the records about the church are interrupted. It is
estimated that the church was damaged in the early 17th century,
probably by a pirate attack. At the beginning of the 17th
century, it was modified by Bishop Alonso Enríquez de Armendáriz
whose surname gave its name to the Almendares River in Havana.
As understood from the letter of the Augustinian priest named
Francisco Romero addressing Charles II, the construction of a
new church, made of stone and tiles, began in 1664, after the
church was destroyed by English pirates in 1642.
The construction of the church started during the time of Bishop
Diego Evelino de Compostela. Bishop Diego Evelino de Compostela
is a figure with whom a flourishing period for the Church in
Cuba began that continued with his illustrious successor Bishop
Jerónimo Valdés. However, it is known that the church modified
by Bishop Armendáriz in 1670 was still standing. In fact, in
those years, Bishop Santo Mathía, referring to the church in
Trinidad, said that it was in danger of collapse. This suggests
that the primitive church was not demolished to build a new one
on the same plot of land, but that it coexisted with the Parish
church in the process of construction. It is already unthinkable
that a city like Trinidad would remain without a church for 28
years.
The church, whose construction started in 1664, must have been
quite completed by 1689, as Bishop Compostela stated that the
churches in Trinidad, Sancti Spíritus and San Juan de los
Remedios were rebuilt.
As learned from Francisco Romero, it was intended to build a
magnificent structure, 60 yards long (about 55 m) and about 15
yards wide, as a church building. On the left side of the
priest's house there was the vestry, the presbytery and a room
for the servants and for the lieutenants of the priests. About a
century later, the priest of the church, José Joaquín Polo,
confirmed this situation. The fact that the walls extending to
the middle of the building are both thick and thin shows that
construction started with thick walls, but then the idea was
changed due to lack of money. Like all early Cuban churches in
that the naves were delimited by arches on wooden pillars, this
church had three naves, supported by wooden pillars, with the
tower on one side. The main facade was plain in appearance.
Outside, there was an area limited by high walls that served as
a cemetery for slaves.
In 1702, the parish church of Santísima Trinidad was plundered
by the English pirate Charles Gant, and the chief sacristan was
martyred while preventing the sacred objects in the church from
being desecrated.
The temple was later rebuilt in the manner described, but the
building was damaged seriously by the storms at the end of the
18th century, particularly by the cyclone in 1812 that also
damaged most of the great buildings in Trinidad. Although the
church was restored by preserving its originality, it became
unusable with the next cyclone in 1814, so that worship was
moved to the church of Santa Ana until the Convento de San
Francisco de Asís was built and used as the parish church in
1842.
When the parish church was destroyed, it was a large temple
occupying an area of about 800 m2 (58 m x 14 m). Only the
sacristy was made of masonry, and everything else was made of
wood. The building was oriented towards the west. It had three
naves: the central one and the lateral ones that were about 2 m
wider than the central one. The church was simply furnished.
The choir with its platform was placed in the middle of the
church. There was a seat for the bishop, wooden benches, a
lectern for the priest and a barrel organ around the choir. The
barrel organ was built by a Franciscan fray called José Denis in
1789. It was replaced by a new one in 1794. The church was
surrounded by a crenellated wall about 2 m high that was
extending from the corner of the tower to the sacristy. In the
nearby square there was a very large wooden cross. The land
between the wall around the church, and the main building was
used for burials, and this space was called the "orchard". Don’t
forget that in 1804, Bishop Juan José Díaz de Espada y Landa
prohibited burials in churches and ordered that cemeteries be
located on the outskirts of towns.
In early times, the church was not oriented towards the square,
but was located on its side, with the main axis almost parallel
to it.
Bishop Espada, who visited the Parish Church in 1804 and 1809,
had already seen that the church was very old, and he was
convinced of building a larger and modern church with a high
capacity that would be the city's cathedral.
With the initiative and approval of Bishop Espada, the church
was completely demolished in 1814 in order to build a larger and
more magnificent church on the same site. According to the
prepared project, the main facade of the church was facing the
square.