Old Havana Walking Tour

About the tour

A guid­ed walk­ing tour in the old city of Havana is the best way to explore its main attrac­tions. The main sites of inter­est in the old city of Havana include the four main squares that have shaped the urban lay­out of the city dur­ing the Span­ish rule – Arms Square, Cathe­dral Square, San Fran­sis­co Square and Old Square along with the first streets of the city.

Old Havana Walking Tour Main Attractions

System of Squares

Five dif­fer­ent squares define the appear­ance of the old city: Arms Square, San Fran­sis­co Square, Cathe­dral Square, the Old Square and Christ of the Good Voy­age Square. All of them, with the excep­tion of the Old Square, are relat­ed by ori­gin or tran­scen­dence to a church

The First Streets of Havana

The prim­i­tive city of Havana, that was found­ed by the Span­ish, had nar­row streets for the cir­cu­la­tion of draught ani­mals, carts and sol­diers on horse­back. Dif­fer­ent axis began to form par­al­lel to the sea and in the direc­tion of the land wall. Their names reflect their most fre­quent use or their environment

Oficios Street (Calle Oficios)

Ofi­cios Street owes its name to the loca­tion of scribes. In a sim­i­lar way were chris­tened, among oth­ers, ‘de los Mer­caderes’ (of the mer­chants),  ‘de la Mural­la’ (of the City Wall), ‘del Basurero’ (of the Garbage Dump), ‘de Lam­par­il­la’ (of the Small Lamp), and ‘de la Obrapia’ (of the Good Deed).

Merchants Street (Calle Mercaderes)

Along with Ofi­cios street this is one of the most impor­tant lanes of the His­toric Cen­ter, where restau­rants and shops con­verge. Its name derives from the fact that dur­ing Havana’s first years almost all mer­chants (mer­caderes in Span­ish) had set their shop on this street.