[1][2] The diocese was erected on 10 September 1787 by Pope Pius VI, from the territory of the then–Diocese of Santiago de Cuba.

When it was erected, the new diocese encompassed the secular provinces of Santa Clara, Matanzas, Havana, and Pinar del Río in Cuba and Florida and Louisiana in what is now the United States of America.

Eventually the diocese was elevated to the Metropolitan See of Sancti Christophori de Habana, San Cristobal de la Habana on 6 January 1925.

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino as Archbishop of Havana on 26 April 2016.

The archdiocese encompasses 7,542 square kilometres (2,912 sq mi) and has two suffragan dioceses, Matanzas and Pinar del Río.