Havana is a city of many secrets, but few are as serendipitous as the church also known as the Catedral de los Campos de Cuba (cathedral of the Cuban countryside), a diminutive ecclesial beauty built in 1760 in classic baroque style on the Old Town square of Santa MarÃa del Rosario. The church is known for its gleaming gold interior, made up of a gilded mahogany altar and some equally sumptuous side altars fashioned in the churrigueresque style.
The paintings on the ceiling are by José Nicolás de la Escalera (1734–1804), an early Cuban-born artist. One is thought to contain the first known depiction of an enslaved black person in Cuban art.
