Located in the Plaza de San Francisco facing the Havana Port is the basilica and monastery dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. Initially constructed in the late 16th century, the church was converted to the Baroque style that we can see today, in 1739. The church has a beautiful 138ft tall bell tower that used to house a statue of St Francis, which was unfortunately knocked down by a hurricane in the 1840s. Another statue, that of Saint Junípero Serra, a controversial figure in the Americas, along with a Juaneño indigenous boy stand next to the basilica.

In the aftermath of the siege of Havana by the English, the basilica was used for Anglican services. However, the Spanish, upon their return, considered it desecrated and did not use it again, though monks continued to stay in the monastery. After a long history of use, disuse, and even being used as a warehouse, the basilica has now been returned to its former glory. The monastery is off-limits to visitors but the nave houses the Museum of Sacred Art while the basilica itself is used as a concert space due to its excellent acoustics, with the stage being the former altar with a huge statue of Jesus on the cross as its backdrop. It is home to the all-female Camerata Romeu chamber orchestra and regularly stages classical concerts.

Among the artworks at the site is famous Cuban sculptor José Villa Soberón’s El Caballero de París, a bronze rendition of a mentally ill man in Havana named José María López Lledín who became well-known throughout the city.