Χρήστης:Michail Angelos Georgoulas/Πλατεία του Αγίου Φραγκίσκου της Ασίζης

Πλατεία του Αγίου Φραγκίσκου της Ασίζης
Plaza de San Francisco de Asís
Πλατεία του Αγίου Φραγκίσκου της Ασίζης Michail Angelos Georgoulas/Πλατεία του Αγίου Φραγκίσκου της Ασίζης
Γενικές πληροφορίες
Είδος	πλατεία
Γεωγραφικές συντεταγμένες	82°20′55″S 23°8′15″E
Τοποθεσία	Αβάνα
Χώρα	Κούβα
Ολοκλήρωση	2 Ιουνίου 1628
Σχεδιασμός και κατασκευή
Αρχιτέκτονας	?
δεδομένα (π)

Το μοναστήρι του Αγίου Φραγκίσκου της Ασίζης

Η πλατεία του Αγίου Φραγκίσκου της Ασίζης (ισπαν. Plaza de San Francisco de Asís) είναι μια δημόσια πλατεία στην Παλιά Αβάνα, το ιστορικό κέντρο της Αβάνας, στην Κούβα . Ολοκληρώθηκε στις 2 Ιουνίου του 1628 και είναι μια από τις παλαιότερες πλατείες στην Αβάνα. Ονομάστηκε από το μοναστήρι του Αγίου Φραγκίσκου της Ασίζης (ισπαν. Convento de San Francisco de Asís), ένα Φραγκισκανικό μοναστήρι που χτίστηκε μεταξύ 1575 και 1591, στο σημείο που ιδρύθηκε αργότερα η πλατεία. Το εμβληματικό Σιντριβάνι των Λεόντων (ισπαν. Fuente de los Leones), χτίστηκε στην πλατεία από τον Ιταλό γλύπτη Τζουζέπε Γκατζίνι και άρχισε να λειτουργεί το 1836.

Το 1761, ο Χοσέ Μαρτίν Φέλιξ δε Αρράτε (ισπαν. José Martín Félix de Arrate), δήμαρχος της Αβάνας, χαρακτήρισε την πλατεία ως το καλύτερο μέρος στην πόλη. Στην πλατεία, εκείνη την εποχή, βρισκόταν το δημαρχείο, η αστυνομία, η φυλακή και το τελωνείο της πόλης.

Για μετάφραση και συμπλήρωση:

Plaza de San Francisco and Around

Immediately inland of Havana harbor, Plaza de San Francisco (on Avenida del Puerto at Amargura) is one of the four leading plazas laid out in the 17th century. The spacious cobbled square, which was fully restored in the 1990s, takes its current name from the Franciscan convent built there.

Formerly a small inlet opening directly to the bay, the plaza was first laid out beginning in 1575 when the land was drained. From the start it was a place where galleons were serviced and slaves unloaded; one of the terminals of the Zanja Real (the first aqueduct in Havana) supplied water supply to the square to victual ships tied up at the wharves. It served as a marketplace and during the early colonial period a fair took place here every October with cock fights. In the late 17th-century and 18th centuries, many wealthy nobles built their homes on the cobbled plaza. The market and cockfight ring were then moved to Plaza Vieja after complaints from the wealthy resident and the convent’s monks.

In1730, the Iglesia y Convento de San Francisco de Asís was initiated. Today the basilica dominates the spacious square to the south side, while to the north is the Neoclassical Lonja del Comercio (Commercial Exchange), dating from 1907 and topped by a bronze image of a winged Mercury. The harborfront is now hidden from view by the 1914 Spanish-Renaissance Aduana (Customs House), the northern section of which has been restored as the Terminal Sierra Maestra cruise ship terminal.

More modern additions include a luxurious boutique hotel, plus restaurants, the Agencia de Viajes San Cristóbal which specialises in cultural tourism in Old Havana, and some notable art pieces, including bronze figures of Polish composer Chopin and a famous Havana tramp—El Caballero de Paris—of the pre-Revolutionary decades. To the square’s southeast corner, the Carrara marble Fuente de los Leones was sculpted in 1836 by Italian artist Giuseppe Gaggini. Tucked beneath shade trees in a small garden to the east side of the basilica is a lovely garden dedicated to Mother Teresa of Calcutta and containing, incongruously, a small Greek Orthodox church.

Horse-drawn carriages are available here for tours of Habana Vieja. And the square is frequently used for girls’ fiestas de quince (15th birthday celebrations), so you’re likely to see bevies of be-crinolined beauties self-consciously feeding the pigeons for photo opportunities.

The streets immediately off the plaza are replete with fascinating sites, ranging from the Aquarium, displaying tropical fishes, to exposed sections of the Zanja Real—the early colonial aqueduct.

COLONIAL SQUARE

Plaza de San Francisco dates from 1575. From the start it was a commercial center, and during the colonial period a fair took place here every October with coin and card games, lotteries and cock fights. It is one of the first three built in the 16th century. It takes its name from the Franciscan convent built there. This Colonial square houses some of the most interesting places in Old Havana, such as San Francisco de Asís Convent, and nowadays houses the Religious Art Museum; Rum Museum, or Coche Miambí, a train coach built in the US in 1990 and transported to Cuba in 1992.

Plaza de San Francisco de Asís

Facing Havana harbor, the breezy Plaza de San Francisco de Asís first grew up in the 16th century when Spanish galleons stopped quayside on their passage from the Caribbean to Spain. A market took root in the 1500s, followed by a church in 1608, though when the monks complained of too much noise, the market was moved a few blocks south to Plaza Vieja. The plaza underwent a full restoration in the late 1990s and is most notable for its uneven cobblestones and the white-marble Fuente de los Leones, a fountain carved by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Gaggini in 1836. A more modern statue outside the square's famous church depicts El Caballero de París, a well-known street person who roamed Havana during the 1950s, engaging passersby with his philosophies on life, religion, politics and current events. The square's newest sculpture (added in 2012) is La Conversación by French artist Etienne, a modernist bronze rendition of two seated people talking.

The cruise terminal is directly opposite the square.

Παραπομπές

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