Most visitors to Old Havana come hunting for baroque churches and Spanish colonial facades, so stumbling across a fully-fledged Byzantine Orthodox cathedral a few steps from the bay is a genuine surprise. The Holy Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas of Myra hides behind the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, reached through the Mother Teresa of Calcutta Garden — a courtyard dotted with sculptures and tombstones of notable Cubans that feels like a sanctuary within the sanctuary.
The church was a deliberate act of diplomacy. The Havana City Historian's Office dreamed it up as a gesture of friendship between Greece and Cuba, drawing plans from sketches and images of Byzantine churches and building them with architects, engineers and students from the local School-Workshop, alongside Greek experts who kept the traditions honest. Barrel vaults went up using time-honoured techniques, and serious care went into the domes, woodwork and iconography.
It was consecrated on 25 January 2004 by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew himself, with Fidel Castro and the city's celebrated historian Eusebio Leal in attendance. Leal, who championed Old Havana's restoration for decades, saw the cathedral as a symbol of the city as a crossroads of civilisations — a Byzantine outpost standing shoulder to shoulder with the old Catholic churches, facing the harbour.
The saint it honours fits the setting well. Nicholas of Myra was a 4th-century bishop remembered for protecting the poor, travellers and communities — which makes this quiet church a fitting stop for anyone passing through Havana, and exactly the kind of detail that rewards travellers who wander one street beyond the obvious route.
More than twenty years on, the cathedral remains active. It serves the resident and visiting Greek Orthodox community, houses liturgical objects and icons brought from far afield, and keeps its doors open to curious visitors — no small feat on an island dealing with blackouts and shortages. Its calm, well-kept interior reads as a counterpoint to the wear of the surrounding streets.
For travellers, the appeal is twofold. Architecturally, it's a rare chance to see authentic Byzantine building methods in the Caribbean, from the vaulting to the iconography. Atmospherically, the approach through the garden, the hush inside and the view of the church against the skyline of a Latin American old town make for one of Havana's more contemplative half-hours. Combine it with the basilica next door, the Plaza de San Francisco just beyond, and a walk along the nearby waterfront for a compact, satisfying loop through the historic centre.
