Sancti Spíritus 510 years since its foundation. Photo: Raúl García Alvarez
by Raúl García Alvarez
Sancti Spíritus is getting ready to celebrate 510 years of its foundation in central Cuba and recalls today the discovery in the Serafín Sánchez Park of the Hermitage of Santo Cristo de la Veracruz and the Convent of San Francisco, works of XVII century.
Roberto Villoch, director of the City Conservator's Office, told Prensa Latina that this wide square between two of the main streets of the locality are witnesses of the religious presence of more than 300 years ago.
The ruins of two buildings that coexisted with eight generations of espirituanos, whose Catholic character was changing when it was decided to locate there the city market and the Real Factoría.
Sancti Spíritus 510 years after its foundation. Photo: Raúl García Alvarez
The engineer commented that when the concrete slab was erected 100 years after it was cast and excavations were started in agreed places, red brick walls, columns or pilasters of large dimensions and part of the original floor plan of both buildings appeared.
Due to the historical importance of the ancient Plaza de San Francisco and together with the Parroquial Mayor, the bridge over the Yayabo River and the Principal Theater, they make up the most relevant patrimonial complex of the town, where the past is combined with modernity.
The park that honors the Major General of the three wars of independence, keeps preserved the places of the findings in the hope of being able to achieve in time, fulfill a project where the public can interact with the traces discovered, he says.
When the works were carried out in 2014, this urban project was conceived, which required significant funds and therefore it was submitted for consultation to the historian of the city of Havana, Eusebio Leal (1942-2020) who recommended us to cover the cavities without affecting the work done and preserve them for the future, he said.
The specialists with the support of the Samá group, of the Speleological Society of Cuba, deciphered a very rich archaeological profile with some elements of the XVI century like a vessel of the material denominated Mexico painted in red, fragments of bottles, candle-holders, majolica plates, flowerpots and a ceramic vessel.
Currently in sight of the passers-by are traces of the cistern and the foundation walls of the convent and the hermitage, which the experts decided to leave, after finishing the reconstruction of this public space.
Sancti Spíritus 510 years since its foundation. Photo: Raúl García Alvarez
In addition, the city conservator referred to the actions to celebrate next June the 510th anniversary of the town as a National Monument, which will favor the historical center that gathers recreational and social institutions and a wide state and private commercial sector. Among the projects, he explained, is the integral rehabilitation of the Cultural Corridor and a group of old mansions and houses of the XIX century in the main streets that converge in the Serafin Sanchez Park.
On the upper levels of the Plaza del Mercado, on the boulevard, a convention hall will be built; the building will maintain its colonial characteristics but at the same time will be an injection of modernity, said Villoch.
The colonial house that preserves the Maqueta de la Ciudad, beauty centers and buildings for social use, improvements to the electrical and hydraulic networks, as well as the sewage system, will also be remodeled.The former Renacer Beauty Institute will be turn into a center with hairdressing services, barbershop, beauty products store, gymnasium, massage area and sauna, and will also function as a nightclub.
The revival of the boulevard includes recreational, musical, theater and other programs in the Oscar Fernandez Morera Art Gallery, the Theater House, the Library and the headquarters of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Uneac). (Taken from PL)
