The History of Cuba Volume V Part 25

La Punta is the headquarters of the Navy Department. Its presence at the angle of the Prado and the Gulf Avenue, that extends west along the sea sh.o.r.e, is a quiet but efficient reminder of the olden days when fortresses of this type formed the only protection enjoyed by the people who were then residents of the capital of Cuba.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Havana, like nearly all of the capitals built by Spanish conquerors in the Western Hemisphere, was a walled city. These walls were built of coral limestone quarried along the sea front, which with exposure to the atmosphere becomes quite hard.

The same engineering ability demonstrated by the builders of El Morro, Cabanas and La Punta, was evident in the 17th century wall, that had the fortress of La Punta as its starting point and ran in practically a straight line south until it reached the sh.o.r.es of the Bay near its southwestern terminus.

These walls were about 12 feet through at the base and some 20 feet in height. Throughout the entire line was a series of salients, bastions, flanks and curtains that were dominant features in the military architecture of those times. At the top were parapets on which the garrison gathered for the defense of the City.

Work on the walls began with a body of 9,000 peons in 1633 and a contribution of $20,000 in gold that was exacted by order of the Spanish Crown from the rich treasuries of Mexico in order to hurry its completion. Only two gates were constructed at first, one of these at La Punta and the other at the head of Muralla Street, which latter formed the main or princ.i.p.al entrance for commercial purposes. A third was afterwards opened near the corner of the old a.r.s.enal for the convenience of people engaged in s.h.i.+p building at that point.

Extending along the water front were gradually built continuations of this wall with coral ledges forming a solid base. These eventually closed the city on all sides. This stupendous work was not completed until 1740, and even after this date occasional additions were made for purposes of better defense. Although the Spanish treasury at that time was being filled with gold from Mexico and Peru, it would seem that the Crown was very loath to part with the money, and compelled the colonies of the Western Hemisphere to build their own defenses and to make whatever improvements they considered necessary, either from contributions levied on commerce, or with the use of slaves whose services their owners were compelled to furnish at their own expense.

Up to the departure of Spain's army from Havana in 1899, sections of the old wall, several blocks in length, extending through the heart of the city, still remained intact. These, with their salients, bastions, flanks, etc., formed an interesting landmark of the olden days, when Spanish knights clad in hauberks and hose, donned their breastplates and plumed helmets to fight against the British who besieged the city in 1763. Today only one short section remains, a picturesque remnant of the past, with its little round, dome-covered watch tower still intact. This is located just north of the Presidential palace on the crest of the green lawn that slopes away towards La Punta, about a third of a mile distant.

Near the landing place at the foot of O'Reilly Street, used by visiting officials and officers of the Navy, stands La Fuerza. On this site was built the first permanent or stone defense of the city in 1538. The original walls and fortifications have seen many changes since that date but one cannot look at them without recalling the pathetic figure of Dona Isabel de Bobadilla, who in 1539, on the drawbridge of La Fuerza, where she and her husband, Hernando de Soto, had lived, said "Adios," as with an army of 900 men and 350 horses, he set out for the conquest of Florida "and all the territory that might lie beyond."

Day after day, for more than two years, it is said, this faithful wife walked the parapets of La Fuerza straining her eyes to see his flags.h.i.+p arise above the horizon of the Gulf, and when at last a storm beaten bark brought back a few survivors of the expedition, whose leader had hoped to rival if not surpa.s.s the deeds of Cortez in Mexico, or Pizarro in Peru, she learned that her lord and lover would return no more, that even his body would never be recovered from the yellow waters of the Mississippi. It was then that her soul, too, sank into the sea of despair and soon joined its companion on the sh.o.r.e beyond.

The dark dungeons of La Fuerza have held hundreds of Cuban patriots until death or deportation to Africa brought relief. The old stone steps descending to the ground floor are worn into veritable pockets by the tramp of feet during a continual occupancy of almost 400 years. Every outer wall, parapet, alcove and dungeon, if able to speak, "could a tale unfold." Now all is silent save the sound of an occasional bugle, the music of the artillery band, or the laughter of children playing on the green lawn that separates it from the Senate Chamber.

The first church built on the Puerto de Carenas, as the Harbor of Havana was called by the founders of the city, was of adobe, roofed with yagua from the guana palm. This was destroyed in 1538 by the pirates. Owing to the extreme poverty of the inhabitants, and to the fact that in spite of the wealth controlled by the churches of the mother country its representatives in the Western Hemisphere, especially in the City of Havana, were left to s.h.i.+ft for themselves, and very few contributions for church building came across the seas to Cuba--it being a.s.sumed evidently that the people of a community deserved no better church than their financial means justified--it was not until well into the 17th century that churches were constructed that would at all compare with the beautiful ecclesiastical structures of Europe. Most of those of Havana, that were built during the 17th and 18th centuries, resemble, both in material and architecture, the rather heavy, ponderous and so called Gothic style that prevailed throughout the Latin American world.

Immediately back of the old Presidential Palace, former headquarters of the Captains General of Spain, stands the former convent and church of Santo Domingo, whose erection was due to the liberality of the Conde de Casa Bayamo, whose picture until recently hung in the sacristy. This building occupied the block of ground between O'Reilly and Obispo and Mercaderes and San Ignacio Streets. It was reconstructed in 1738 and became the Royal University of Havana. When the University was transferred to the beautiful site on the heights of Principe, overlooking Havana from the west, this old relic of bygone ages, with its ponderous walls and picturesque patio, became the Inst.i.tute of Havana, where students still receive that which in English would be equivalent to a high school education. One portion of the square is today used as a police station, while the church itself, with its crude stone figures of saints standing in relief from the outer walls, is practically abandoned and will probably soon be removed, for the modest type of sky-sc.r.a.per or office building that is becoming quite common throughout the city.

The cathedral, one of the largest and most imposing of the churches of Havana, was built by the Jesuits, on the north edge of the old basin or arm of the Bay that extended from the present sh.o.r.e along the line of the street now known as Empedrado, as far west as the little San Juan de Dios Park. This church is built of the tough coral limestone used in nearly all of the important buildings that stood within the walls of old Havana. The church, together with the convent and offices in the rear, is in the form of an irregular quadrangle, covering about a block of ground, the rear facing the bay itself. The architecture is of the so-called Gothic that prevails in all of the old-time churches and convents of the Island. Owing to the fact that, up to 1899, it contained the bones of Christopher Columbus, this building has always been one of the prominent places of interest in the city. A tablet in marble, over the entrance on San Ignacio Street, states that it was consecrated by his Excellency, Pedro Agustin Morel de Santa Cruz, Bishop of Havana, on September 8, 1755. This church was declared the Cathedral of Havana in 1789.

The former tomb of Columbus was located in a niche built for the purpose on the west side of the altar. When the Spanish forces departed from the Island in 1899, at the request of the Pope the remains of Columbus were removed from their long resting place in the Cathedral and carried to Seville, Spain, where they are at present interred. The interior of the edifice, although not as elaborately decorated as are some of the other churches, is nevertheless imposing and well worth a few moments pause to the pa.s.sing visitor.

The San Francisco Convent, one of the oldest churches of Havana, was completed by Order of the Franciscans in 1591. A part of the hard coral sh.o.r.e that formed the western edge of the bay, a few blocks south of the Plaza de Armas, formed a solid foundation for the original building which, owing to faulty material and construction, lapsed into ruins in 1719. In 1738 the structure which now occupies the spot was built under the direction of Bishop Juan Lazo. The tower of the Church proper is considered one of the best samples of ecclesiastic architecture in Havana. This building fronts on Oficios Street and extends from the Plaza of San Francisco south for more than a block, parallel with the Bay front. The old San Francisco convent is the most ma.s.sive structure of its kind in Havana. Its long lofty arched pa.s.sages were well built and give promise of remaining intact through centuries yet to come. The large patio in the center is today filled with flowers and admits light to the many offices, once occupied by the palefaced, sad-eyed inmates of the convent, now resounding with the click of typewriters and the tread of feet bent on the ordinary affairs of life. In 1856 this building became the depository, or general archive, of the Spanish administration of affairs in the Island. The first American Government of Intervention used it as a Custom House, where Major General Bliss had his headquarters. Shortly after the inauguration of the Republic of Cuba this property together with that of the square now used by the Inst.i.tute, was purchased from the Church and continued to be used as the custom house. In 1916 the old convent, thoroughly renovated, became the permanent headquarters for the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, for which it is well adapted. The custom house was transferred to the San Francisco Wharf, a handsome structure that also shelters the administration of Trisconia. From 1608 the San Francisco Church was used as the starting point of the religious processions which annually pa.s.sed the "Via de Cruces" or Way of the Cross, along Amargua Street terminating at the Church of El Cristo at the corner of Aguacate Street, which was built in 1640.

The San Agustin Convent was built by the order of San Agustin on Amergura Street at the corner of Aguiar Street. A tablet on the church itself states that it was completed in the year 1659. There is nothing of special interest connected with this church other than its antiquity and its general air of isolated depression.

La Merced, located at the corner of Cuba and Merced Streets, was the culmination of an effort to establish a Merced Convent for that part of the City of Havana. It was begun in 1746 but not completed until 1792.

La Merced is today considered the most fas.h.i.+onable church in the Island of Cuba, and during times of religious festivals the decorations of flowers and illumination of candles are very imposing. This church, and the National Theatre, during the opera season, furnish perhaps the two most interesting places in which to study Havana's elite society.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IN NEW HAVANA

While many streets in Havana appear to belong to some Spanish city of centuries ago, many others vie with those of New York and Was.h.i.+ngton in their up-to-date Twentieth Century aspect. There are in both public and private edifices many examples of the finest modern architecture and construction, some rising many stories above the two-and three-storied buildings characteristic of former years.]

In 1689 the convent of Santa Catalina was built on the square facing O'Reilly Street, between Compostela and Aguacate Streets, the dedication of the church taking place in 1700. This convent has been famous for two centuries for its wealth, devotees vying with each other in the amount of money or property which they could contribute to the coffers of the church. It is said that $15,000 was the smallest contribution that could be accepted from any woman who chose to devote her life and fortune to the promotion of the Catholic faith and the prosperity of the Church. No limit was fixed to the amount of the individual contributions from novitiate nuns, and many of the wealthiest women of Havana society have disappeared from the social world, within its walls. The property was sold in 1917 for a million dollars and the inmates were removed to the new quarters located on the plateau in Vedado.

The picturesque church that stands on the crest of the hill in the district of Jesus del Monte was built in 1689. The view from the front of this church, looking over the city and bay beyond, is very pleasing.

An attractive church from the viewpoint of its minarets and architecture, known as Santo Angel, is located on a small hill of that name near the junction of Cuarteles with Monserrate Street, overlooking the long stretch of green sward that extends from the new Presidential Palace to the Park of Luz Caballero. This church, in spite of its name, seems to have been selected by fate to suffer a number of serious reverses. In 1828 a stroke of lightning toppled over the tall spire on its eastern front, and again in 1846 a hurricane that did but little damage to the city tore down the cupola and brought with it the entire end of the building. In spite of this however the church has recently entered into a period of prosperity and is today the center of fas.h.i.+onable congregations who usually a.s.semble there for twelve o'clock late ma.s.s.

Santa Teresa was founded in 1701 and is located at Compestela and Teniente Rey Streets.

The convent of Santa Clara was built in 1664 and began with a fund of $550. It extends from Cuba to Havana Streets and from Sol to Luz Streets, covering two solid blocks of ground, and is the largest convent in the Island of Cuba. Owing to the recent increase in the price of city property, the s.p.a.ce covered by this convent is valued at $1,500,000.

In 1704 the convent of Belen was founded at the corner of Compostela and Luz Streets, covering an entire block of ground that had served previously as a recreation park for the Bishop of Compostela. Within this convent the Jesuit Order established what was known as the "Royal College of Havana," whence were graduated some of the city's famous lawyers and scholars. This order maintains an Observatory and weather bureau, whence reports in regard to storms in the Caribbean are contributed to the daily papers. Belen, among the devout Catholics of Cuba, is undoubtedly one of the most popular inst.i.tutions of the West Indies.

Shortly after the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson as President of the United States, Mr. William E. Gonzalez was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary from that country to the Republic of Cuba, and took up his residence in the old colonial mansion built by the Echarte family, located on the corner of Santa Catalina and Dominguez Streets. This beautiful quinta occupies a block of ground in the old aristocratic residence district of Cerro, some three miles distant from Central Park.

The building, although only one story in height, is quite imposing, built of stone with white marble floors throughout, inclosing a beautiful patio that forms one of the unique and charming attractions of old-time residences in Havana. A wide marble flagged gallery runs all around this patio from which a soft subdued light enters the many rooms facing upon it. A broad porch, whose heavy flat roof is supported by long rows of stone columns, faces the south, and above it flies the Stars and Stripes from sunrise to sunset. The garden or grounds occupying the eastern half of the block are filled with beautiful shade trees and sweet scented flowers that have been brought from many parts of the world, while in front a row of stately royal palms reach up some 80 feet or more toward the blue sky.

La Chorrera, the Fort of Almandares, is a picturesque little old fort, some fifty feet square and two stories in height, built of coral rock in the year 1646, which rests upon a little islet not much bigger than the fort itself, at the eastern entrance of the Rio Almandares. Slave labor undoubtedly entered into the construction of this fort, although it is said to have cost 20,000 ducats. A flight of stone steps has been built up to the second floor that communicates with the entrance to the fort.

Over this is a tablet giving the date of construction and the name of its builders.

During the siege of Havana by the British in 1762, Lord Albemarle determined to land troops west of the City in order to take advantage of Principe Heights, overlooking the capital from the west. On June 10 a portion of the British fleet began bombarding La Chorrera. Its commanders, Captain Luis de Aguiar and Rafael de Cardenas, made a very stubborn resistance, yielding only when their ammunition had been completely exhausted. This fort is easily reached by the Vedado car line, from which a short walk of two blocks brings one to the mouth of the Almandares, on which the fort is located.

On the western point, guarding the entrance of the little ensenada or inlet of Cojimo, four miles east of El Morro is Fort Cojimar, almost the duplicate of La Chorrera, which was constructed at the same time. These quaint monuments of the past add considerable historic and picturesque beauty to the northern coast of Cuba. All of them may be reached by beautiful automobile drives and are well worth a few moments in pa.s.sing.

The Torreon de la Playa, a small round watch tower, was erected on the eastern sh.o.r.es of La Playa, some three miles west of the Almandares River, where watchmen were kept both day and night to advise the authorities and inhabitants of the struggling young colony of the approach of pirates from the west, or any suspicious sails that might hove in sight. This structure was built by order of the Town Council, the "Cabilda," on order issued on March 8, 1553, naming each individual who was to contribute either in money or men towards the work. The money contributed was exacted only from some half dozen of the inhabitants and amounted to a "real" or ten cents a day. The well-to-do inhabitants were called on each to furnish one negro with his tools, or lacking tools, a "batey" or boat in which to convey material.

A similar tower known as the Torreon de San Lazaro was built in 1556 upon the western edge of the little inlet, which until the inauguration of the Republic in 1902 occupied the s.p.a.ce where the beautiful equestrian statue of General Antonio Maceo now stands.

The picturesque fort known as Atares, located on the hill that commands the extreme southwestern end of the bay, was begun in 1763, immediately after the departure of the British, and completed in 1767. It is occupied at the present time by a small detachment of Cuban artillery, and is sacred in the eyes of all Americans owing to the fact that General Crittenden of Kentucky, and his 50 companions who had joined the unfortunate band of Cuban liberators under the command of Narciso Lopez, were executed on the western slope of the hill in August, 1851. Atares is easily reached by the Jesus del Monte cars, and the view from the top of the hill is worth the climb.

The Castillo del Principe, the last fortification of the 18th century, was placed on the western edge of the Principe plateau, on the same spot where Lord Albemarle with his British troops looked down on the City of Havana during the siege of 1762. Fort Principe was begun in 1774 and completed in 1794. The general style of architecture is similar to that of all the military structures of this period, although Principe is larger and more commodious than Atares. A deep moat surrounds the fortification and an old style drawbridge connects the outer edge with the entrance to the citadel itself. Since the beginning of the Cuban Republic the fort has been used as a state penitentiary, and is a model of ideas and methods in the treatment of its convicts. The inmates are not only taught to read and write, but learn useful trades as well.

Those of musical bent have formed a bra.s.s band, in which they have been encouraged under the intelligent direction of General Demetrio Castillo, who has had charge of the prisoners in Cuba almost since the beginning of the Republic.

The view from the top of the hill is one of the most attractive in the Province of Havana, and may be reached either by the Principe car line, which terminates at its base, or by an automobile drive which leads through a winding way up the hillside to the very entrance of the fortress.

The Botanical Gardens, Quinto de Molinos, are a beautiful property fronting on Carlos Tercero Street and extending along the north side of the drive from Infanta Street to the foot of Principe Hill. They belong to the Government. On the corner of Infanta Street is located the new City Hospital, the largest and most complete inst.i.tute of its kind in the West Indies. Just beyond are the ground of the Botanical Gardens and the Quinto de Molinos, forming a long, beautiful well laid out, shaded park. Its graveled walks lined with many varieties of stately palms and tropical plants some indigenous and some brought from other parts of the world, render the ground a charming and interesting retreat, not far from the center of the City. The estate covers some 40 acres, and within its limits are held Agricultural and Live Stock fairs, that under normal conditions take place annually. These grounds, during Spanish colonial times, were used as a summer residence by the Captains-General of Cuba, and for that reason have a certain degree of historical interest, since here Generals Martinez Campos, Weyler and Blanco, with many of their predecessors, pa.s.sed much of their time during the summer season.

Several picturesque kiosks and artistic structures with seats have been built for the benefit of the public, and usually during the winter season open air concerts are given within the grounds once or twice a week by the Munic.i.p.al Band. The Quinto is easily reached either by street car or automobile and there is probably no place within the city limits where one can pa.s.s a more restful and profitable hour, than within the shade of the Botanical Gardens of Havana.

CHAPTER XXIX

HAVANA

Havana is one of the most charming capitals in the New World. Its very name, Indian in its origin, conjures up a vivid panorama of four centuries, crowded with tragedy, pathos, adventure, bold deeds, cruel crimes and n.o.ble sacrifices; on whose rapidly moving film the hand of fate has pictured every phase of human emotion from the wild dreams of world conquerors, to the hopeless despair of hunted Cubenos, who preferred death to slavery. It was on the 25th day of July, 1515, that Diego Velasquez, while cruising along the south coast of the Island, stopped on the sandy beach near a native fis.h.i.+ng village called Metabano. The Indians belonged to a tribe known as the Habanas; one of the thirty different divisions of the Cubenos. Gra.s.s-covered plains extending back from the beach seemed to impress Velasquez favorably, so he founded a city there and called it San Cristobal de la Habana.

Toward the close of the year 1519, however, the colonists evidently disapproved of Velasquez's selection and moved their town across to the north coast of the Island at the mouth of the Almandares, where northeasterly winds made the summers more agreeable. This little stream, emptying into the Gulf of Mexico, had a depth of twelve or fifteen feet at the mouth, sufficient for the caravels of those days. But some of the City Fathers, in their wanderings to the eastward, found the beautiful bay, then known as Carena. A prophetic glimpse into the future may have furnished the motive for another change; at any rate a year later they picked up their household fixtures, carrying with them the town records, and established the City where it now stands, on the eastern sh.o.r.es of one of the finest land locked harbors in the world. In 1556 Havana became the capital of Cuba, the rendezvous of all Spanish fleets in the Occident, as well as the key to the Gulf of Mexico.

Havana in the early days of the 16th century consisted of several groups or cl.u.s.ters of palm thatched huts, not far from the bay, with little that could suggest a city in embryo. As in all cities built by the Spaniards in the New World, the first permanent buildings were churches and monasteries erected for the benefit of the Catholic clergy and built, as a rule, of adobe or mamposteria, with walls two or three feet in thickness. The material used was a mixture of rock, earth and sand, inclosed in facings of plaster. Many of them were decorated with crude figures and images of saints popular in the community.

Later, quarries of soft limestone were found in abundance, and from these, blocks were easily cut which, after exposure to the atmosphere, formed a hard, durable building material. The coral rock of which both Morro and Cabanas were built was taken from old quarries scattered along the north sh.o.r.e from Morro eastward. From these quarries came also the stone that built the s.p.a.cious San Francisco Convent, occupied today by the Central post office.

As in all Spanish towns, in the New World at least, a plaza or open square formed the center from which the princ.i.p.al streets radiated. On the eastern side of the plaza of Havana, in front of La Fuerza, was erected in after years El Templete, in honor of the first ma.s.s held by the inhabitants of Havana, which took place under a giant ceiba growing close to the sh.o.r.e of the harbor, in 1519.

Nearly all of the permanent structures in Havana, up to the middle of the 17th century, were located on or near the water front, some distance in from La Punta. Many of these, including La Fuerza, the San Francisco convent, the old cathedral and La Maestranza, were built of coral limestone cemented with a mixture the formula for which is said to have been lost, but which in these buildings has endured the wear of centuries. Excellent clay for making tile and brick was later found not far south of the City, so that the more pretentious buildings were covered with roofs of the criolla tiles that are still common throughout all Latin America.

Before the middle of the 15th century, the clearing in which Havana was located was extended out as far as the street now known as Monserrate, running from the Gulf front across to the southwestern extension of the bay. In 1663 a splendid wall was begun along this line and completed with the help of slaves in 1740. It ran almost north and south, inclosing the city on the west, and protected it from all attacks coming from the land side. This wall was twenty feet in height and twelve feet thick at the base, surmounted at frequent intervals by quaint round-topped turrets. It had its angles, bastions and points of vantage for defensive purposes, the work, according to experts, representing a very high degree of engineering ability on the part of those who planned it.

With the exception of one angle and its turret, which stands in front of the new Presidential Palace, the old walls were removed in 1902, thus depriving Havana of perhaps the most picturesque feature of the ancient city.