Plaza de Armas

Plaza de Armas is the oldest and most historic square in Havana, located in the heart of Old Havana near the harbour. The square is shaded by ceiba trees and surrounded by some of the finest colonial buildings in the city: the Castillo de la Real Fuerza (the oldest surviving Spanish fort in the Americas), the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales (now the City Museum), and El Templete, a small neoclassical chapel built in 1828 to mark the spot where the first Mass was celebrated in Havana.

The square hosts a daily second-hand book market — stalls of old books, revolutionary pamphlets, old magazines, and curios that attract locals and tourists alike and give the square a pleasant, unhurried atmosphere. The Museo de la Ciudad in the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales is worth entering for the colonial-era rooms and the collection of objects relating to Havana's history.

things to do habana vieja sight
A story
Plaza de Armas was the first plaza built in Havana after the Spanish founded the city in 1519, and it served as the centre of colonial administration for three centuries. The Castillo de la Real Fuerza, which faces the square, is the oldest surviving Spanish colonial fortress in the Americas, built in the 1550s. The weather vane on its tower — a small bronze female figure called La Giraldilla — is the symbol of Havana, reproduced on every bottle of Havana Club rum.

Other places in La Habana Vieja (Old Havana)