Barrio de San Lázaro, Havana

Barrio de San Lázaro
Residential
Cayo Hueso
Malecon, San Lazaro and Belascoain: Vista Alegre Cafe, Hotel Manhattan by Purdy and Henderson, Engineers, La Casa de Beneficencia. ca 1950
Location	East of Centro Habana
Coordinates: 23°08′26.5″N 82°22′16.3″W

Map of barrio San Lazaro, 1853

Bateria de la Reina. In the esplanade that today occupies the park in front of La Casa de Beneficencia, between 1856 and 1861, the Bateria de la Reina was built, a colonial military fortress composed of a large circular building, with a battery facing the sea. It had accommodations for a garrison of 250 men and 44 pieces of artillery. The Bateria de la Reina was demolished at the beginning of the 20th century.

Map of 1900 showing Hospital de San Lazaro, Espada Cemetery, La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad de La Habana, the Caleta de S. Lazaro and las canteras

Barrio de San Lázaro, an area bounded by Calle Infanta to the west, Calle Zanja to the south, Calle Belascoáin to the west and the Gulf of Mexico to the north, forms the western edge of Centro Havana.[2]

According to Ordenanzas municipales de la ciudad de La Habana, Capitulo 1ro, Division de La Habana, Barrio San Lazaro is in the 'Tercer Distrito' (Third District), and is barrio No. 8. Imprenta del gobierno y capitania general, 1855.

History

Calle Belascoain. Havana, Cuba

Running in a north-south direction Calle Belascoáin (today Calle Félix Varela) was the last street of the city, on the south were the railroad tracks and what eventually became Calle Zanja. Beyond these demarcations was what came to be known as Barrio de San Lázaro, a no man's land where the unwanted children, the lepers, the mentally unstable and the deceased would be located. Ecu Red writes: "The historical richness of the territory is incalculable through the times, dates from the sixteenth century, when the French corsair Jacques de Sores, on July 10, 1555, penetrated through the cove of Juan Guillen (today San Lázaro) between the Torreón and the Parque Maceo, who took, looted and burned Villa de San Cristobal de La Habana, which was defended by Mayor Juan de Lobera, his men and the villagers. The Cabildo of September 26, 1664, determined to build a fortress next to the cove, one league from the Villa. He himself served as a lookout, he was placed a lit torch to warn the presence of an enemy ship. Today, this monument represents the Municipality of Centro Habana, as a symbol of rebellion and dignity of a heroic people. On July 26, 1912, Cayo Hueso part of Barrio de San Lázaro is officially recognized as a neighborhood."

Calle San Lazaro

Calle Infanta crossing Calle San Lazaro. Note the University of Havana staircase in the background. ca 1956

Calle San Lazar, perpendicular to Calle Belascoáin, is 25 blocks long and today extends from the steps of the University of Havana on the west to almost the Castillo San Salvador de la Punta on the east, Teresa Valenzuela García writes: "According to some, since the foundation of the first general cemetery in Havana, that of Espada, in 1806, this avenue was the transit of all the funeral processions that went to the cemetery, which sometimes constituted true spectacles; the street did not become populated until 1815.

The name of the street San Lázaro owes its origin to the hospital founded in 1746, first it was called Calle Ancha del Norte and later, El Basurero (trash depository), later still, Antonio Maceo Avenue, and then Avenida de la República, In 1936 the City of Havana Council restored its name to San Lázaro.

The back of the houses faced the coast, as the Havanan boardwalk was not built until the beginning of the 20th century. However, much earlier, the famous sea baths called La Punta, del Recreo and de Beneficencia were built.

The 14 blocks of San Lázaro, facing the Malecón, are now the priority area for conservation, where the Office of the City Historian carries out a rehabilitation program for the valuable buildings included in the area.

In the 19th century, the only important building on the road was the Beneficencia, built in 1794, and where the Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital stands today."

Torreón de San Lazaro

Marcos Lucio's Torreón de San Lazaro. 1665

The Torreón de San Lazaro, located in the Parque Antonio Maceo at Malecon and Calle Marina in present day central Havana, was a watchtower built in 1665 by the engineer Marcos Lucio. From this fortification a lookout could warn military forces by way of torches of threats of attack by corsairs and pirates. In this regard it served as a link in the defense chain between the Bateria de la Reina[3] and La Punta and the Santa Clara Battery located at the site of today's Hotel Nacional.

The Torreón is a cylinder, a round tower of masonry. Ii is approximately 4.57 metres (15.0 ft) in diameter and 9.14 metres (30.0 ft) high with embrasures along its wall at the intermediate level and a battlement parapet at the third level roof. It has a wood entry door to the ground level. With the passage of time, the San Lazaro cove was filled and the tower was included in a republican park named after Major General Antonio Maceo. In an 1853 map of Havana it is shown as the Torreón de Vijias (lookouts).[4]

The Torreón de San Lazaro is named for the nearby leprosarium at the Hospital de San Lazaro which was near the cove formerly known as the Cove of Juan Guillén.

La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad

La Casa de la Beneficencia. 1794

In 1794 La Casa de Beneficencia, located on land located in front of the San Lázaro cove, an area known at that time as the Betancourt Garden, was the initiative of a group of illustrious habaneros, including Luis de Peñalver, bishop of New Orleans, Countess de Jaruco, the Marquise of Peñalver and Cárdenas, and the captain-general, Luis de las Casas. Initially the La Casa de Beneficencia admitted only females.

The financial situation was difficult and sometimes distressing. Towards 1824 general Francisco Dionisio Vives took it out of its financial quagmire by providing a tax on lottery tickets and another on the cockfights that took place in the trenches of the Castillo de la Fuerza.

In 1914, President Mario García Menocal converted La Casa de Beneficencia into a state institution and provided it with, without forgoing donations and popular collections, a budget for maintenance. In the 19th century in what is now Maceo Park the Bateria de la Reina was installed. Along Calle Belascoaín, in front of the side of the building, was the bullring of Havana and in the back, between Calles Virtudes and Calles Concordia, the jai alai[5] fronton.

In the late 1950s, the Batista government bought the building and demolished it with the intention of building the headquarters of the National Bank of Cuba. The Revolution triumphed however and it was decided to install the children in what had been the Civic Military Institute, in Ceiba del Agua. The new facility was named Hogar Granma.

Hospital San Lazaro

Hospital de San Lazaro. 1781

The Hospital de San Lazaro dates back to the seventeenth century when it served as a headquarters for some temporary huts for those suffering from leprosy built near the Caleta de San Lázaro, a natural inlet that was located about a mile outside the city walls.

The chaplain of the church, presbyter Juan Pérez de Silva, and Dr. Francisco Teneza in view of the deplorable conditions of the leprosy patients sought the help of King of Spain Majesty Felipe V. The Real Hospital de San Lázaro was built near the Juan Guillén Cove in 1781 and the church inside a two-story courtyard which became a pilgrimage frequented by those suffering from leprosy and followers of San Lázaro or Babalú Ayé seeking spiritual solace.

The site of the San Lazaro Hospital was between present day Calles Vapor and San Lazaro, the hospital entrance faced present day Calle Marina. The hospital was near to the Espada Cemetery separated only by the San Dionisio mental asylum. The Casa de Beneficencia was also close to the Caleta de Juan Guillén (San Lazaro) its former location is the current location of Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital. The quarry of San Lazaro where Jose Marti had been imprisoned in 1870, was to the west of Calle Principe.

Espada cemetery

Espada Cemetery. 1806

It was the custom of the people of Havana to bury the corpses of the dead in the churches, arranging the way in which they should be located inside the temple as well as the price to be paid for each one of the graves according to the social and economic rank of the deceased. Examples of this type of burial can be seen in the history of the Cathedral of Havana and in the Iglesia del Espíritu Santo (Church of the Holy Spirit).

The first cemetery outside the jurisdiction of the church was built under the government of Don Salvador De Muro and Salazar, Marquis of Someruelos, who ordered to build the General Cemetery of Havana between the current streets of San Lázaro, Vapor, Aramburu and Espada. This public work of great utility was helped by the illustrious Bishop Juan José Díaz de Espada and Fernández de Landa, under the auspices of the Governor, the City Council and the Holy Cathedral Church. It was located a mile west outside the walls of the City, near the coast of San Lazaro, where death put beggars and emperors in the same rank.

After being officially called the General Cemetery of Havana and Campo Santo (Holy Field), it was renamed the Espada Cemetery, in honor of the Bishop of Espada y Landa, whose hand was decisive for its establishment. The cemetery and the relocation of the bodies, by three black slaves with carts pulled by horses, was financed with his own wealth. The building was designed and construction directed by an architect with the surname of Aulet. The paintings that adorned the building were carried out by the Venetian Giuseppe Perovani (1765-1835). It was officially inaugurated on February 2, 1806.

The first remains taken to the new cemetery were those of the former General Captain Don Diego Manrique, who were exhumed from the church of San Francisco de Asís; as well as those of the Bishop of Milaza, José González Cándamo, who was governor of the miter of Havana, and who had been exhumed from Havana Cathedral. The bodies were gathered at the chapel of the Casa de Beneficencia. The corpses were transferred in black velvet boxes distinguished with gold trimmings.

Casa de Dementes de San Dionisio

1855 map showing location of The entrance door, is precisely in the middle, under the porch, on the sides of which open four windows with strong iron bars, which give light and air to other rooms occupied by the shrink, the house butler and two soldiers and a corporal, who do not stand guard but are of respect, in case of need. On the threshold of the aforementioned door, on a marble tombstone, with golden letters of relief, this inscription reads: TO HUMANITY TO THE HEALTHY JUDGMENT Mens Sana in Corpore Sano. Francisco Dionisio Vives Juan José Espada GOVERNOR BISHOP YEAR 1827 Hospital of San Dionisio, La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad de La Habana, and the Espada Cemetery

Diario de la Marina (27 July, 1947) published what Conde San Juan de Jaruco in the XIX Century wrote: "The House (for the) Insane of San Dionisio was one of the great works of charity that realized in Havana, at the expense of a voluntary subscription, the lieutenant general don Francisco Dionisio Vives y Planes, captain general and governor of the Island of Cuba.

This establishment was inaugurated, destined exclusively for people of the masculine sex, the 1 of September of 1828, in the street of San Lazaro, between the hospital of this name and the cemetery De Espada, in some lots that had served to bury the individuals deceased in the old hospital of San Juan de Dios. Until then, the insane had been housed in Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad. (#3 on the map: "locos.")

The elegant façade of the San Dionisio Hospital (Calle San Lazaro) was adorned with a beautiful marble Corinthian vocabulary, donated by General Vives. Its main door was in the same center of the building, preceding the portico a vast rectangular atrium with bases of more than a yard of masonry that supported a uniform span with intermediate pillars, and of equal construction and form that of this atrium was the outer fence of the garden. On the threshold of the main door appeared this inscription:

To Humanity - To sound judgment - Mens sana in corpore sano - Francisco Dionisio Vives, governor - Juan José Espada, bishop - Year of 1827.

It consisted of the entrance of San Dionisio's asylum from a short corridor between double doors, of which one was the outside, and the other, which, like an iron gate, gave way to the first courtyard, which was a square of twenty-eight yards in length, by eleven wide, with galleries arched between Corinthian columns, of stone, on all four sides. To this first cloister opened fifteen cells destined to the pensioners patients, and three dungeons reinforced with strong bars. When this establishment was inaugurated, it consisted only of a single cloister that overlooked a vast garden, but a few years later a second courtyard was built, five yards less than the first, which separated a passage between two doors that separated it. They opened the halls to the left and right, which served as a refectory and a place to clean white prisoners. Years later two other departments were built, with their courtyards, destined the one to the men of color, and the other to laundry, kitchen, services and other offices of the establishment. When the third patio was finished in 1839, its door was decorated with a marble tombstone that had the following inscription:

For the Hon. Mr. Captain General Joaquín de Ezpeleta, under the direction of the Hon. Mr. Marqués de Esteva and address of Colonel Don Manuel Pastor. Year of 1839.

There continued to operate the House of Insane San Dionisio, until the year 1860, in which the sick were moved to the new house built 10 kilometers from this capital, in the "Potrero Ferro", commonly known as "Mazorra"

In the inscription that was made in San Dionisio, on the tombstone that was placed in 1839, appeared the title of Marqués de Esteva, which referred to Don José Buenaventura Esteva y Crops, cavalry brigadier of the Royal Armies, a native of Ferrol and native of an old family of Catalonia, who was a colonel of cavalry militias and mayor of the Holy Brotherhood in Havana; senator of the kingdom, gentleman of Camera, gentleman of the Order of Calatrava and later, great of Spain. He married in the Cathedral of Havana with Dona Maria Felipa Garcia de Carballo y Gomez, and they had Dona Maria Dolores Esteva and Garcia de Carballo as daughter, who was Marquesa de Esteva de las Delicias, a great girl from Spain, and who married in this city with don Antonio González de Estéfani and Autran, brigadier of infantry of the Royal Armies, debtor of a distinguished Cuban family.

Upon taking possession of the command of the Island of Cuba, Captain General Vives encountered a great number of arduous problems in the country, in which the lodges of Freemasons and other secret societies were those that prevailed and ruled throughout the Island. the most important events that occurred in Cuba during his government, are the failed conspiracies of the Soles de Bolívar and the Aguila Negra. General Vives commissioned the great Havana statesman Don Francisco de Arango y Parreño to stop the excesses of the press, and the brigadier Don Angel Laborde and Navarro, chief of the Havana post office, to establish a permanent military commission of to judge the crimes of murder and robbery in the depopulated, so frequent at that time.

In 1829, by resolution of Don Fernando VII, the reconquest of Mexico was undertaken from Cuba, and once this failed, the Spanish troops took refuge in our country, since then forming part of the permanent forces of the Island of Cuba, with the name of the Crown Regiment. At that time our population had developed remarkably during the successful and honest administration of the distinguished patrician Arango and Parreño later Marqués de la Gratitud, and the wise cooperation that also lent the country the remarkable superintendent of the Royal Treasury, Mr. Claudio Martínez de Pinillos and Cevallos, Conde de Villanueva, later large in Spain, also Cuban, which increased public revenue from three million strong pesos to seven million two hundred thousand strong pesos. In addition, during the command of this prudent captain general, the transfer of the public jail was made, mail ships were established between Havana and the Peninsula, the map of the Island was made, and it was divided into three departments. The story recalls a phrase of General Vives in which he advised the people of Cuba "not to go out at night so as not to be robbed", and such was his long-suffering and tolerance, that upon arriving in our country his successor, General Tacón, preceded by great reputation of energetic, pasquines appeared throughout Havana, which said: "If you live as you live, you will live."

Canteras de San Lázaro

Jose Marti in the quarry of San Lazaro. 1870

Barbara Maseda in her commentary notes: "Arrested at the age of 16 for writing a letter to a classmate who had joined the Spanish Army, José Martí was sentenced to six years of imprisonment with hard labor. Part of the area of the San Lazaro Quarry[6], where he was sent to cut rock, is now a memorial called Fragua Martiana, in reference to the role it played in forging Martí’s character. Since its inauguration in 1952, it's been the place that marks the end of the March of the Torches; Every year on the eve of January 28th, people from Havana, mainly university students, march from the University of Havana to the Fragua Martiana to celebrate Martí’s birthday. The march, held for the first time in 1953 (the 100th anniversary), was first organized by the Federation of University Students and has become an important tradition in Cuban university life "

On April 5, 1870 a teen-age José Martí is confined to the quarries of San Lázaro, a condemned prisoners sentenced to forced labor for multiple reasons which include the so-called crimes of infidelity. Marti was 17 years old, has a shackle attached to the ankle of his right leg, attached to the chain around his waist.

A few months earlier in October 1869 a group of Spanish "volunteers" had searched the home of Martí's friend, Fermín Valdés Domínguez, and found a letter addressed to an acquaintance, whom they accused of being a traitor for having entered the ranks of the Spanish army. Both are imprisoned, both claim to be the author of the letter.

Marti is sentenced to six years of deprivation of liberty, and on April 4, 1870 he enters the jail in Havana with number 113, where he would work up to twelve hours a day in inhuman conditions.

At the jail he met the elderly Nicolás del Castillo and the child Lino Figueredo, and his experiences would serve him to write in Spain the book 'The Political Prison in Cuba'. In this booklet, José Martí tells in a masterly way the bitter experience lived in the quarries of San Lazaro during the period in which he was imprisoned, forced to work in subhuman conditions. It is addressed to the Spaniards, as if he were speaking to them, as if presenting this horrible spectacle for scenes; continually invokes them to see and condemn. Martí was not looking for literary novelty; he conceived it as a document of indignant accusation, not only for physical abuse, but for the mistreatment of morals and the human condition; but that does not stop being an artistic piece. Faced with the terrible pain of the presidio, Martí opposed a singular optimism, which helped him to fight with the conviction of the final victory; that's why he wrote in this work:

"The notion of good floats above all, and is never engulfed".
("La noción del bien flota sobre todo, y no naufraga jamás".)

In mid-August, due to his state of health, José Martí is transferred to the cigar store of the prison and then to La Cabaña. The lime in the quarry had hurt his eyes and the shackle produced an ulcer on his leg. On 28 August 1870 in a dedication to his mother, Leonor Perez Cabrera, written in a photo in which it appears of foot and with the shackle, and he writes:

"Look at me, mother, and in the name of love do not cry: if slave of my age and my doctrines, your martyr heart filled with thorns, think that they are born among the thorns, flowers."
("Mírame, madre, y por amor no llores: si esclavo de mi edad y mis doctrinas, tu mártir corazón llené de espinas, piensa que nacen entre las espinas, flores.”)

Jose Marti.

Antonio Maceo

Doménico Boni's sculpture of Antonio Maceo. 1916

The 1916 statue of General Antonio Maceo by the Italian sculptor Doménico Boni and subsequent park, La Casa de Beneficencia, the hotel Manhattan on Calle Belascoáin, by the U.S. Engineering firm of Purdy and Henderson, and the Hotel Vista Alegre also at the beginning of Calle Belascoáin, anchored a geographically important corner close to the sea of the large expanse of land known as El Barrio San Lazaro and within it and immediately to the north was the Caleta de San Lazaro. Cayo Hueso was also a part of El Barrio San Lazaro. Cayo Hueso ("bone cay"), its name derives from its location near the Espada Cemetery. it was demolished in 1908. Among the oldest institutions in the area were the leprosy hospital (demolished in 1916), the Casa de Beneficencia orphanage (currently the Hermanos Ameijeiras hospital). Buildings in the Barrio San Lazaro that were important to the early development of the city were the Hospital de San Dionisio for the mentally insane, the Cementerio General known as the Campo Santo and more commonly referred to as the Espada Cemetery was the precursor to the Colon Cemetery, and a room for the treatment of the mentally ill located on the side of the Real Casa de Beneficencia on Calle Belascoáin. The monument to Antonio Maceo was located near a place previously occupied by the Batería de la Reina, (1861), located in front of the La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad, at the intersection of Belascoaín and San Lázaro. In 1916 the monument was placed but the park was not built, many voices were raised in protest demanding that a greater tribute be paid to the figure of Antonio Maceo. Kees van Tilburg writes:

"Antonio Maceo (1845 –1896) was one of the most noteworthy guerrilla leaders in 19th century Latin America. Maceo, together with his father and brothers joined the Ten Years’ War right from the beginning in 1868. Because of his bravery and ability to outmaneuver the Spanish Army, Antonio was promoted to (Lieutenant) Colonel within half a year and five years later to Brigadier General. The humble origin of Maceo and the color of his skin, delayed his raising to Major General, due to the racist and class exclusiveness tendencies of patriots with an aristocratic or bourgeois origin. With reference to his skin color men under Maceo’s command began to name him “The Bronze Titan”, also because of his exceptional physical strength and resistance to bullet or blade injuries. He recovered from more than 25 war injuries over the course of some 500 military battles. Maceo admired Máximo Gómez and rapidly accepted his strategy of using the machete as a war weapon as a substitute for the Spanish sword. Maceo opposed the signing of the Pact of Zanjón, which ended the Ten Years War. He and other independence soldiers met with General Martínez-Campos in 1878, to discuss the peace terms. Maceo argued that no peace could be achieved if the objectives of the war had not been accomplished; the abolition of slavery and Cuban independence. In 1895 Maceo had anunfortunate, meeting with Gómez and Martí, because of the disagreements between him and Martí on the relationship between the military movements and the civilian government. Several days later, Martí, treated as a non-military “Doctor” by Maceo, would fall in battle. After Gómez was designated General in Chief of the Cuban Liberation Army, Maceo was named second in command. In December 1896, only accompanied by a small troop of no more than twenty, he met a strong Spanish column, which opened an intense fire hitting Maceo. His companions could not carry himaway. The only rebel who stayed by him was the Lieutenant Francisco Gómez, son of Máximo Gómez, who faced the Spanish column for the sole purpose of protecting the body of his general. After being shot several times, the Spaniards killed Gómez with machete strikes, leaving both bodies abandoned, not knowing the identity of the fallen."

Batería de Santa Clara

Battery of Santa Clara_aereal. ca 1929

Named after the Count of Santa Clara, Juan Procopio Bassecourt, governor of Cuba, who built it between 1797 and 1799. The Santa Clara Battery is west of the Canteras de San Lázaro and was part of the system of colonial fortifications of the city. Located in a rocky massif facing the sea. Its remains, among which is the largest canyon of the time, were part of the gardens of the National Hotel.

The site is shown on the map of 1900 [7] and is today where the Hotel Nacional de Cuba is located formed part of the area that in the first colonial centuries which was called Monte Vedado, due to a decree of the Spanish Government that prohibited the opening of roads to the beach in this area.

The constant attacks of corsairs and pirates and then the capture of Havana by the English, led to the construction of various works of protection and defense, towers, batteries, and in these lands, which today occupy the gardens of the National Hotel, colonial authorities decided to place on the hill the famous Battery of Santa Clara. Artillery is with 20 pieces of large caliber and long range, Ordóñez guns some of which can still be seen in the gardens of the Hotel Nacional.

From this same point, the regidor Don Luis Aguiar harassed many of the British ships during the siege of Havana[8] a military action from March to August 1762.

The protected area is a long and solid parapet of 193 meters in length and about 80 meters from the sea. Its fire had to cross with the one of the Tip, dominating very closely the cove of San Lazaro or Juan Guillén. Next to it was a building for an artillery practice school.

In 1890, the Battery of Santa Clara was reformed and 1.60 meters thick Portland cement concrete reinforced with rails was built. This was one of the first occasions in which the use of Portland cement in the country is known.

The Battery of Santa Clara was declared by UNESCO in 1982, together with the historic center of Old Havana, a World Heritage Site.

Of this defensive system, two cannons are currently exhibited in the garden: the "Krupp" and the "Ordóñez", the latter being the largest canyon in the world at the time.

Hill of Taganana

Battery of Santa Clara on the Hill of Taganana.

The Hotel Nacional was built on top of a hill overlooking the sea, a hill home to one of the most historic caves on the island. On this strategic elevation was installed in the mid-nineteenth century the so-called battery of Santa Clara canyons." The Hotel Nacional is close to the Torreon and the Barrio San Lazaro. The location of the Santa Clara Battery on the Hill of Taganana was critical in the defense of the city. Arnoldo Varona writes: "The hill of Taganana, as it is known, is located in the coastal outcrop of Punta Brava, almost to the extreme of the cove of San Lázaro, and was a habitual place of pirate landings, that took its name of another cavern in the island Canaria of Tenerife where the princess guanche Cathaysa took refuge when she escaped after she was captured and sold by the Castilians as a slave in 1494.

In Cuba, in a parallel story, the legend says that one of the caves under the Taganana hill served as a shelter for a Cuban Indian girl of the same name who fled from his Spanish persecutors.

The great Cuban novelist Cirilo Villaverde immortalized her in his literary work, 'La cueva de Taganana'.

Gallery

• 
  Map of Habana. 1866
• 
  Map of Habana. 1853
• 
  Frontón de Jai Alai, La Habana. 1904
• 
  La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad during the hurricane of 1919 with the statute of Antonio Maceo rising above the water in the background.
• 
  Barrio de San Lázaro. Vista Alegre Cafe. Havana, Cuba[1]

External links

Belascoain