[1] Built in the heart of Old Havana, the convent was close enough to the harbor to be used by sailors and inbound passengers to the colonial capital.

[1] The convent continued to operate for several centuries, providing social and religious services.

Many unmarried women from Colonial Cuba's well-to-do classes were enrolled in the nunnery by their families.

[citation needed] By the turn of the 20th century, the increasingly modernized city of Havana was becoming a disruptive location for the nuns of the convent, and in 1921 the nuns were relocated to Lawton and the government was given ownership of the site.

[1] In the decade that followed, corrupt officials used the property for their own purposes, actions which in turn generated a large degree of backlash from the public.