Minutes after the conclusion of the meeting of the Holy Father of the Catholic Church with the Cuban family, and right from the atrium of the Basilica Santa Metropolitan Cathedral, began the ceremony of blessing the city of Santiago de Cuba and its people.
With a spectacular view of the aged villa, the extraordinary landscape of the Sierra Maestra that blends with the bay, Pope Francisco uttered the prayer that opened up that solemn moment before thousands of Santiago who gathered around the Parque Céspedes.
The Bishop of Rome congratulated the people gave them a friendly smile, and humbly asked everyone to pray for him.
The Cathedral of Santiago is the work of the municipal architect Carlos Segrera (1880-1922), who succeeded in transforming the decrepit building then, with the eclectic image that looks and now becomes one of the most majestic buildings of the downtown Parque Céspedes.
The building stands in the exact spot where in 1522 was born the first cathedral in Cuba, which after its destruction gave space to another building, then a third, until in 1922 this fourth version.
Its interiors stand out for their false ceilings decorated with paintings and ornaments, where a strong molding work, both with the technique of plaster, as appreciated in papier mache.
The termination of the viewpoints of the Cathedral of Santiago make colorful domes topped by cupulinos with skylights; which, together with the dome of the nave and the sculpture of the Archangel Gabriel, lead to the building visibility from anywhere in the old town of the city.