As a training center where prestigious Cuban intellectuals were educated before the foundation of the University of Havana, it was one of the most important buildings during the colonial period.

The old porch, the courtyard and the main stairway, one of the most splendid of colonial times, stand out preserved among Havana's religious architecture.

However, the building did not reach its current shape until Bishop Juan José Díaz de Espada added constructive forms that rivaled the gates of the University of Valladolid.

During this period, the seminary achieved such scientific renown that not even the Royal and Pontifical University of San Gerónimo de la Habana could shadow it.

The Cuban José Antonio Saco, sociologist, historian and economist, who stood out for his strong opposition to slavery and against the annexation of Cuba to the United States, also studied at this eminent Conciliar Seminary.