• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 1489 0

dock in the municipality of Regla, has a long and colorful history. Inside on the main altar you’ll find La Santísima Virgen de Regla, a black Madonna venerated in the Catholic faith and associated in the Santería religion with Yemayá, the orisha (spirit) of the ocean and the patron of sailors (always represented in blue). Legend claims that this image was carved by St Augustine ‘The African’ in the 5th century, and that in the year AD 453 a disciple brought the statue to Spain to safeguard it from barbarians. The small vessel in which the image was traveling survived a storm in the Strait of Gibraltar, so the figure was recognized as the patron of sailors. These days, rafters attempting to reach the US also evoke the protection of the Black Virgin.

A hut was first built on this site in 1687 by a pilgrim named Manuel Antonio to shelter a copy of the image, but this structure was destroyed during a hurricane in 1692. A few years later a Spaniard named Juan de Conyedo built a stronger chapel, and in 1714 Nuestra Señora de Regla was proclaimed patron of the Bahía de La Habana. In 1957 the image was crowned by the Cuban Cardinal in Havana cathedral. Every year on September 8 thousands of pilgrims descend on Regla to celebrate the saint’s day and the image is taken out for a procession through the streets.

The current church dates from the early 19th century and is always busy with devotees from both religions stooping in silent prayer before the images of the saints that fill the alcoves. In Havana, there is probably no better (public) place to see the layering and transference between Catholic beliefs and African traditions.

If you’ve come across to see the church, you should also check out the quirky Museo Municipal de Regla ( 97-69-89; Martí No 158; admission CUC$2; 9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 9am-1pm Sun), which is spread over two sites, one adjacent to the church and the other (better half) a couple of blocks up the main street from the ferry. Recording the history of Regla and its Afro-Cuban religions, there’s an interesting, small exhibit on Remigio Herrero, first babalawo (priest) of Regla, and a bizarre statue of Napoleon with his nose missing. Price of admission includes both museum outposts and the Colina Lenin exhibit.

From the museum head straight (south) on Martí past Parque Guaicanamar, and turn left on Albuquerque and right on 24 de Febrero, the road to Guanabacoa. About 1.5km from the ferry you’ll see a high metal stairway that gives access to Colina Lenin. One of two monuments in Havana to Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (better known to his friends and enemies as Lenin), this monument was conceived in 1924 by the socialist mayor of Regla, Antonio Borsch, to honor Lenin’s death (in the same year). Above a monolithic image of the man is an olive tree planted by Bosch surrounded by seven lithe figures. There are fine harbor views from the hilltop.

Getting There & Away

Regla is easily accessible on the passenger ferry that departs every 10 minutes (10 centavos) from Muelle Luz at the intersection of San Pedro and Santa Clara, in Habana Vieja. Bicycles are readily accepted via a separate line that boards first. Bus 29 runs to Guanabacoa from Parque Maceo between the ferry terminal and the Museo Municipal de Regla.

Return to beginning of chapter

GUANABACOA

pop 106,374

Guanabacoa is the little village that got swallowed up by the big city. In spite of this, the settlement’s main thoroughfare, diminutive Parque Martí, still retains a faintly bucolic small-town air. Locals call it el pueblo embrujado (the bewitched town) for its strong Santería traditions, though there are indigenous associations, too. In the 1540s the Spanish conquerors concentrated the few surviving Taínos at Guanabacoa, 5km east of central Havana, making it one of Cuba’s first official pueblos Indios (Indian towns). A formal settlement was founded in 1607, and this later became a center of the slave trade. In 1762 the British occupied Guanabacoa, but not without a fight from its mayor, José Antonio Gómez Bulones (better known as Pepe Antonio), who attained