Barrio de San Lázaro is one of the first neighbourhoods in Havana, Cuba. It initially occupied the area bounded by Calle Infanta to the west, Calle Zanja to the south, Calle Belascoáin to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the north, forming the western edge of Centro Habana. According to the 1855 Ordenanzas Municipales of the city of Havana, Barrio San Lázaro was the Tercer Distrito (Third District) and was Barrio No. 8.
Caleta de San Lazaro
Arcabuco was the name of a footpath that began in Old Havana in the vicinity of the church of Loma del Ángel that ran in a westerly direction to an inlet cove that was 93 meters wide and approximately 5.5 meters in depth. When Juan Guillén a Spanish soldier installed a carpentry shop to build small boats close to the cove the site became known as “La Caleta de Juan Guillén”, the road was known as “the caleta”. Eventually the Hospital de San Lázaro, the Espada Cemetery, the San Dionisio mental asylum, and La Casa de Beneficencia were developed around the Caleta de San Lazaro.
Calle Belascoáin
Calle Belascoáin is shown on the map of 1853 as the last street of the city. The southern boundary of this area were the railroad tracks that lead to the Paradero de Villanueva and what eventually became Calle Zanja. This large territory is the Barrio de San Lázaro, a no man's land where the orphans from La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad de La Habana, the lepers of the Hospital de San Lazaro, the mentally ill from Casa de Dementes de San Dionisio and the deceased of the Espada Cemetery were located.
Calle San Lázaro
Calle San Lázaro, perpendicular to Calle Belascoáin, is 25 blocks long and extends from the steps of the University of Havana in the west to almost the Castillo San Salvador de la Punta in the east. Since the opening of the Espada cemetery in 1806, Calle San Lazaro was used for funeral processions to the cemetery. The street did not become populated until 1815. Calle San Lázaro owes the origin of its name to the Hospital de San Lázaro which was founded in 1746. First, it was called Calle Ancha del Norte and later, El Basurero (trash dump), later still, Antonio Maceo Avenue, and then Avenida de la República. In 1936 the City of Havana Council restored its original name to Calle San Lázaro.
The backs of the houses originally faced onto the sea; the boardwalk was not built until the beginning of the 20th century. Much earlier, the famous sea baths called La Punta, del Recreo and de Beneficencia were built. 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. 14 blocks of San Lázaro, facing the Malecón, are a priority area for conservation, where the Office of the City Historian is carrying out a rehabilitation program for the historically valuable buildings located in the area.
Torreón de San Lázaro
The Torreón is a cylinder, a round tower of masonry. It is approximately in diameter and high with embrasures along its wall at the intermediate level and a battlement parapet at the third level roof. It has a wooden entry door at ground level. With the passage of time, the San Lazaro cove was filled and the tower was included in a Republican-era park named after Major General Antonio Maceo. In an 1853 map of Havana it is shown as the Torreón de Vijias (lookouts).Plano pintoresco de La Habana In 1982, the Torreón was inscribed along with other historic sites in Old Havana on the UNESCO World Heritage List, because of the city's importance in the European conquest of the New World and its unique architecture.
Located in the Parque Antonio Maceo at Malecón and Calle Marina in present-day central Havana is the Torreón de San Lázaro, 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 Batería de la Reina, La Punta, and the Santa Clara Battery located at the site of today's Hotel Nacional.
The Torreón de San Lázaro is named for the nearby leprosarium at the Hospital de San Lázaro which was near the cove formerly known as the Cove of Juan Guillén.
La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad
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, the Bishop of New Orleans, the Countess de Jaruco, the Marquise of Peñalver and Cárdenas, and the Captain-General, Luis de las Casas. Initially, La Casa de Beneficencia admitted only females.
The financial situation of La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad was difficult, 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, without forgoing donations and popular collections, with a budget for maintenance. In the 19th century in what is now Maceo Park the Batería de la Reina was installed. Along Calle Belascoaín, at the back of the building and shown on an 1866 map, was the bullring of Havana.Plano de La Habana On Calles Virtudes and Concordia, was the jai alai frontón.
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. In a speech, Fidel Castro states: "We have always seen a building under construction here. This building (bank building) is an inheritance. We inherited this building at the time of the victory of the revolution. A building for the national bank was being built." However, a photograph published in Havana in January 1959 showing Castro's son Fidelito riding on top of a tank contradicts this statement as the Beneficiensa building can be seen on the left background of the photo.
Hospital San Lázaro
The Hospital de San Lázaro 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 the King of Spain 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 San Lázaro Hospital was on Calle Aramburu between Calles Jovellar and San Lázaro. The hospital was close to the Espada Cemetery, the San Dionisio mental asylum, and La Casa de Beneficencia y Maternidad de La Habana, and all were close to the Caleta de Juan Guillén which was filled in during the initial construction of the Malecon in 1901. The quarry of San Lazaro where Jose Marti had been imprisoned in 1870, was to the west of Calle Principe. The former location of La Casa de Beneficencia is the current location of Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital. The site today encompasses Cayo Hueso which is a consejo popular (ward) in the municipality of Centro Habana. A traditionally working-class neighborhood populated by Afro-Cubans, it is known for its many cultural landmarks such as the Callejón de Hamel, the Fragua Martiana Museum and the Parque de los Mártires Universitarios. Cayo Hueso formed part of Barrio San Lázaro, an area bounded by Calle Infanta to the west, Calle Zanja to the south, Calle Belascoáin to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the north. Cayo Hueso was declared a barrio on 26 July 1912 and made part of Centro Habana upon its establishment in 1963.
Espada Cemetery
It was the custom of the people of Havana to bury the dead in a crypt inside of the churches, placing them according to their social rank and prices paid for the vault. (e.g. Cathedral of Havana and Iglesia del Espíritu Santo.)
The Espada cemetery was a garden type. A single wall contained the crypts. The design and construction were directed by an architect with the surname of Aulet. The cemetery had a central courtyard; the walls were approximately 6 meters tall (4 crypts) with an elaborate stone coping for protection from the rain. The paintings that adorned the entrance pavilion were by the Venetian Giuseppe Perovani (1765–1835). The cemetery was officially inaugurated on February 2, 1806. Only a small section of the original wall remains.
The Espada Cemetery was outside the jurisdiction of the church, built under the authority of the government of Don Salvador De Muro and Salazar, Marquis of Someruelos, who ordered that the General Cemetery of Havana be built between the Calles of San Lázaro, Vapor, Aramburu, and Espada. This public work was helped by the Bishop Juan José Díaz de Espada and Fernández de Landa under the auspices of the Governor, the City Council, and the Cathedral of Havana. The cemetery was located a mile west outside the walls of the City and near the cove of San Lazaro.
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 corpses from the various churches were carried out by three black slaves with carts pulled by horses and financed with Bishop of Espada y Landa's own wealth.
The first remains taken to the new cemetery were those of the former Captain General Don Diego Manrique, which 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
The Casa de Dementes, inaugurated on September 1, 1828, and intended exclusively for males, was located on San Lázaro Street, between the Hospital de San Lázaro and the Cemetery de Espada, on lots that had served to bury the individuals deceased in the old hospital of San Juan de Dios. Until then, these patients had been housed in the Maternity Home.
Cirilo Villaverde—author of a short story about the Hill of Taganana and of the novel Cecilia Valdés—writes on a visit to Casa de Dementes de San Dionisio: "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 doctor, 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"
Diario de la Marina (27 July 1947) published what Conde San Juan de Jaruco in the 19th century wrote:
Havana Jai alai