San Carlos y San Ambrosio, Havana. Cuba

• ( 3 reviews)
• Old Havana. Havana City. Cuba
• Daily
• Destination: Havana

Rating San Carlos y San Ambrosio

Your experience is very valuable for other travelers.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

It is the old School of “San Jose” de la Compañía de Jesus that later, in 1774 was open under the name of San Carlos and San Ambrosio Royal School Seminary.

It was built by the Jesuits. After they were expelled in 1767, it immediately became the seat of St. Ambrose’s seminar. It is also called St. Charles seminar in honor of King Charles III of Spain, who declared it Conciliate in 1777, equaling it to the Spanish seminars.

It was one of the most important buildings during the colony for it was a training center where prestigious Cuban intellectuals were educated, and as for its construction, new architectural elements were introduced.

The original baroque porch has sculptures, pilasters and chamfered angles. The front was redesign to face the bay in 1950. The current entrance was designed following the Cathedrals baroque motifs. The old porch, the courtyard and me main stairway, one of the most splendid of colonial times, stand out among Havana’s religious architecture. At both sides of the gate stand two busts of the most representative and important professors in the formation of the Cuban nationality: José Agustín Caballero and Félix Varela. Both taught at me seminar. It still operates as a seminar.

San Carlos y San Ambrosio Map

San Carlos y San Ambrosio is located in Havana

Capital of Cuba and the country's administrative, political, cultural and scientific center, it is also the capital of two provinces: City of Havana and Havana. Though only around 280 square miles (727 square kilometers) in size-0.65 percent of the archipelago's total area.

The Old Havana and system of forts led UNESCO to declare it a part of world heritage in 1982. Founded on its present site in 1519, the settlement of San Cristobal de La Habana prospered mainly due to its bay, which was a natural port of call for ships sailing to and from the New World. Starting in 1634, because of its strategic location, San Cristobal de La Habana was considered the key to the New World-as attested to by royal letters patent-and the main defense of the West Indies.

The Cuban capital consists of an immense number of buildings in a wide range of architectural styles, built in the course of nearly five centuries. These styles range from the pre-baroque to the baroque, neo-Gothic, neoclassical, eclectic, art noveau and art-deco, to the modern.

Alejo Carpentier, one of Cuba's most famous authors, called it "the city of columns" and focused attention on its streets, which he considered a perennially rich show of life, humanity and contrasts that was bound to entertain any observer.

Over 14 kilometers of excellent beaches lie to the east of the Cuban capital. To the south, a green belt contributes to a healthful atmosphere.