Immediately back of the old Presidential Palace, former headquarters of the Captains General of Spain, stands the former convent and church of Santo Domingo, whose erection was due to the liberality of the Conde de Casa Bayamo, whose picture until recently hung in the sacristy. This building occupied the block of ground between O’Reilly and Obispo and Mercaderes and San Ignacio Streets. It was reconstructed in 1738 and became the Royal University of Havana. When the University was transferred to the beautiful site on the heights of Principe, overlooking Havana from the west, this old relic of bygone ages, with its ponderous walls and picturesque patio, became the Institute of Havana, where students still receive that which in English would be equivalent to a high school education. One portion of the square is today used as a police station, while the church itself, with its crude stone figures of saints standing in relief from the outer walls, is practically abandoned and will probably soon be removed, for the modest type of sky-scraper or office building that is becoming quite common throughout the city. The cathedral, one of the largest and most imposing of the churches of Havana, was built by the Jesuits, on the north edge of the old basin or arm of the Bay that extended from the present shore along the line of the street now known as Empedrado, as far west as the little San Juan de Dios Park. This church is built of the tough coral limestone used in nearly all of the important buildings that stood within the walls of old Havana. The church, together with the convent and offices in the rear, is in the form of an irregular quadrangle, covering about a block of ground, the rear facing the bay itself. The architecture is of the so-called Gothic that prevails in all of the old-time churches and convents of the Island. Owing to the fact that, up to 1899, it contained the bones of Christopher Columbus, this building has always been one of the prominent places of interest in the city. A tablet in marble, over the entrance on San Ignacio Street, states that it was consecrated by his Excellency, Pedro Agustin Morel de Santa Cruz, Bishop of Havana, on September 8, 1755. This church was declared the Cathedral of Havana in 1789. The former tomb of Columbus was located in a niche built for the purpose on the west side of the altar. When the Spanish forces departed from the Island in 1899, at the request of the Pope the remains of Columbus were removed from their long resting place in the Cathedral and carried to Seville, Spain, where they are at present interred. The interior of the edifice, although not as elaborately decorated as are some of the other churches, is nevertheless imposing and well worth a few moments pause to the passing visitor.