Saint Francis of Assisi Plaza

This guide to Saint Francis of Assisi Plaza in Havana follows the fountain of four reclining marble lions at its center, carved in Italy in eighteen thirty-six by Giuseppe Gaggini and given to the city as a gift by the count of Villanueva to water ships docked in the harbor. It traces the fountain's decades of exile, hauled from this square to Parque Trillo, then dragged again to Parque de la Fraternidad as fashions shifted, before it was finally set back near its original spot. Look down at the cobbles beneath your feet, the same ones sailors once crossed to fill their water casks.