• Submitted by: manso
• Travel and Tourism
• 12 / 27 / 2010

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Just at the end of the Amargura, Real del Jigüe and San Antonio streets have the inhabitants of Trinidad, the south central city of Cuba, declared a world heritage, one of the most singular and distinctive spaces: the Plaza de las Tres Cruces (Three Crosses Square), also previously known as Calvario.

Located at the north west of the old villa, founded in 1514, the square has an area of 112 square meters and has been always considered, according to the criteria of experts of the local patrimony, as a sacred or respect place, according to the grade of religiosity of the people or Trinidad.

Even though experts do not have the documents in which they can see the exact date of the creation of the square, in 1826 there was in the town the announcement of the sell of a house in front of the three crosses.

However, specialists of the Office of Preserver of the City of Trinidad and the Valley of Ingenios, maintain that the origin of the public space is quite before the mentioned date, in the procession of the holly week, which traveled trough the Amargura street until that area, to later on going up the Real del Jigüe street.

It was then when to celebrate the event in the square, people placed three wooden crosses on stones bases and it became an area full of symbolism, which managed to characterize the surrounding areas.

The economic crisis of the region in 1850, caused the need for houses, lack of resources in many families to survive and renovate their homes, especially in areas such as the Calvario neighborhood, a popular area of the poorest families.

Some decades later, almost at the end of the 20th Century, started the studies and projects to give the area back its patrimony values, but it was not until 2002 when the Office of the Preserver – together with the Andalusia government – started the actions of rebuilt 160 houses of the area and the public space around it.

Today, the square shows a new appearance thanks to the works of the Empresa de Restauración y Conservación de Monumentos de Trinidad (Company of Restoration and Preservation of Monuments of Trinidad) and the people of the town, who proudly exhibit the three crosses that symbolize the Holy Trinity.

Source Cubarte