Our Lady of Kazan Orthodox Cathedral

The Our Lady of Kazan Orthodox Cathedral , is a Russian Orthodox cathedral located in historic old town of Havana, Cuba, under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church.The temple was built on the shores of Havana Harbour in Old Havana, on the corner of San Pedro Ave. and Santa Clara.HistoryThe first service of the Russian Orthodox Church in Cuba began in 2001. At first they were held in the Russian trade delegation, then - at the embassy, and later - in the Catholic Church.Construction of the TempleThe first agreement for the project dates back to 2002. Starting then, preparations began for the work, whose construction was initiated on November 14, 2004 at the initiative of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who, according to his memoirs, "offered to build the Cathedral of Russian Orthodox Church in the capital of Cuba as a monument to Russian-Cuban friendship".The first stone of the temple was laid in November 2004 by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, (since 2009 the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', and Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church) following an agreement by the Cuban authorities with the Russian Orthodox Church. The project was developed by architect Alexey Vorontsov and approved by the official historian of Havana, Eusebio Leal, who travelled to Moscow to discuss the matter and met with Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow. Foreman construction was the Cuban engineer Pedro Rodriguez Sanchez.