St. Francisco de Asís Basilica

This guide to St. Francisco de Asís Basilica in Havana follows the stone statue of the saint that once stood atop its bell tower, watching over the harbor entrance. It traces the storms the tower survived starting in the sixteen eighties, the hurricane of sixteen ninety-four that snapped the tower clean off, and the rebuilding effort Havana launched in seventeen sixteen to raise it again, taller than before. You'll also hear how the plaza below was laid out to help supply passing ships with fresh water. Look up at the tower's crown to see what the centuries left there.