Originally built in 1727, it was consecrated as a cathedral in 1789. Its exterior was designed with Baroque-style architecture, using coral harvested from the reefs surrounding Havana by slaves. You can still see fossils of marine plants and animals within the walls of the cathedral. This thirty-four by thirty-five metre rectangular shaped church serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Cristobal de la Habana and is one of eleven Roman Catholic cathedrals on the main island of Cuba.

The cathedral is situated in the beautiful Plaza de la Catedral in the centre of Old Havana.