The ancient Alameda de Paula is guiding us through a renovated work reviewing history and art present in the small church of the Real Hospital de San Francisco de Paula, located at the Havana Port`s Avenue, which was the second of four major buildings of its type made on XVIII century.

The constructive element remaining until our days came up from Priest Nicolás Estévez Borges`s last will desire to take care poor and unprotected women but rough weather conditions of 1730 and time attacks left the chapel as unique witness.

The architecture of this place is similar to that of San Francisco de Asís, not only for its facade's design but also for its internal strokes. The transept's short-arms head and cupola show the strength achieved in the construction of these colonial buildings, even when it appears before our eyes, as a mutilated building in its original design.

Its external space, having a special sobriety in front of the sea, is like an island in the middle of the road crossed by memory with its internal decoration in a well-defined Baroque style to complete the multi-colored light in a great stained glass.

The old Paula Church is currently serving as concert hall and at the same time headquarters for a group of ancient music, Ars Longa, artistically combining also art works by recent plastic creators about religious topics specially made for this space.

The invitation made by Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad (Historian of the City Office) to internationally renowned Cuban artists, impelled the arrival of real artistic jewels to be exhibited at the chapel portraying a new breath of life. Among them, underscores a Triptych by Cosme Proenza devoted to San Francisco de Paula; the Zaida del Río`s Vía Crusis and a stained glass by the notable Nelson Domínguez. Other techniques reveal the presence of such luminaries as the sculptor Agustín Quintanilla or the famous styles of Roberto Fabelo, Aniceto Díaz, Isabel Jimeno and many others to complete a bundle of different contemporary shapes and styles.

In this nave were exhumed the ashes of the famous Cuban violinist Claudio José Domingo Brindis de Salas, whose musical inheritance still reigns in this nest of legends. Faithful to these antecedents, this place becomes the ideal vehicle to penetrate the musical magic of an environment proper for spiritual delight. Paula Church is currently the seat for Habana Festival Chorus, event with the sole aim of enjoying the special spectacle of Choral Music.

Courtesy of Juglar Publicidad