The Holy and Metropolitan Cathedral Church is a unique site of Havana. An emblematic, incomparable, captivating building; symbol of a city in which the reminiscences of the past are embraced with the chiaroscuro of the present.
The Cathedral does not need explanations, although it has them. Although it stands as the main church of the Archdiocese of Havana for centuries and therefore has its own meaning for the Catholic community. Or even if due to its unique architecture, with its imposing façade and its two asymmetrical towers, it is considered the most iconic building of the Cuban Baroque.
Its rich history since it was planned by the Jesuits, its dedication to the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception, the fact that it housed the ashes of Christopher Columbus, the Great Admiral, its appreciated paintings and sculptures, its dazzling altars and chapels, its solid pillars, its arches and its dome; all this and more nourishes the symbolism of this place, but it is not necessary to know it to experience its solemnity.
Even when outside, in its crowded square, the animation and lightness of tourism reign, the Cathedral retains restraint and lordship, imposing the spirit of its magnificence, the weight of its beauty and monumentality.
It has, as only extraordinary places have, its own sense of time, its own contrast of lights and emotions. Shadows and lights emerge and hide between its walls, bounce off its lamps and on its marble floor, enveloping visitors, blurring colors and discovering their nuances, their chiaroscuro.
Our photojournalist Otmaro Rodríguez proposes us to approach that particular atmosphere. like months ago he already did with the squareher images reveal to us not the hackneyed space, contaminated by everyday life, but its most timeless essence, the spirit that defines it beyond times and conventions.
