PLACES OF INTEREST
BAYAMO
A Ciudad Monumento (Monument City) whose history is largely linked to the struggles for the independence of the Island is known for keeping its ancestral traditions of horsedrawn carriage rides and for its rich culinary culture nurtured by the legacy of the aborigines.
2 PARQUE CÉSPEDES (PARK)
Libertad, Maceo, General García, Cacique Guamá streets
It is a beautiful park surrounded by the most important buildings of the villa. In its center it has a column of granite crowned by a statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. In the park there is also a bust of the Puerto Rican patriot Perucho Figueredo, author of the National Anthem.
CASA NATAL DE CARLOS MANUEL DE CÉSPEDES
57 Maceo between José Joaquín Palma and Donato Mármol streets, Tel 023 42 3864
The birth home of the Father of the Nation is a museum that reveals passages of the life of this hero of Cuban independence through photos, original documents and family relics. It also has rooms that display a recreation of the interior environments of a typical family home of creole landowners of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
3 PLAZA DEL HIMNO (SQUARE)
Maceo, Padre Batista, José Joaquín Palma, Máximo Gómez and Céspedes streets
It was the setting of many of the celebrations of the city of Bayamo, as well as of transcendental historical events like that of the entrance of the Cuban liberating army forces in the city, October 20, 1868, when the whole town, filled with passion, asked the Bayamo poet Pedro Figueredo to reveal the Himno de Bayamo (Hymn of Bayamo) a patriotic march that became the National Anthem.
4 IGLESIA PARROQUIAL MAYOR DEL SANTÍSIMO SALVADOR
Plaza del Himno, Tel 023 42 2514
Declared Monumento Nacional (National Monument,) it was one of the few buildings that survived the fire that devastated the city on January 12, 1869, preventing it from falling into enemy hands. This was the place where the song that gave origin to the National Anthem was sung for the first time, "La Bayamesa," on June 11, 1868 by 12 Bayamo young people. One of the most important features of the church is the beautiful mural that adorns its high altar. The temple occupies the site that was previously occupied by the original church built in 1516, which was later reconstructed twice, in the years 1733, and 1869. It has ceilings in Mudejar style while the main altar is in Baroque style.
MUSEO DE CERA (MUSEUM)
254 Calixto García,
Tel 023 425421
Unique of its kind in the country, it exhibits 10 life-size wax statues of prestigious musicians and famous people, such as Ernest Hemingway and Polo Montañez.
VENTANA DE LUZ VÁZQUEZ
160 Carlos Manuel de Céspedes between Perucho Figueredo and Lora streets
It was the residence of Luz Vázquez y Moreno, who inspired the first Cuban troubadour song, "La Bayamesa." The story goes that the young woman was displeased with her husband, and the latter, in order to reconquer her, asked poet José Fornaris and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes for help, and the three together wrote the lyrics of the song. There is a belief that if several people lean with their faces against the wall, forming a line, the ghost of the young woman appears as they move off the wall.
5 PARQUE NACIONAL PICO TURQUINO
With unique beauties framed in a scenery abundant in historical events, the Parque Nacional Turquino preserves one of the best conserved mountain ecosystems of the country. It is located in the west-central region of the Sierra Maestra and occupies territories belonging to the provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba. Among its main attractions is the Sendero Pico Turquino (Pico Turquino Trail.)
6 MANZANILLO
Manzanillo ranks as the second city in importance of the province. Known as the “Ciudad del Golfo de Guacanayabo” ("City of the Gulf of Guacanayabo",) it was thus named on July 11, 1792. Nevertheless, its origin is previous, which is evidenced in the poem “Espejo de Paciencia,” whose plot takes place in this town in 1604, when it was already established as an important center of maritime trade in the region.
7 PARQUE CÉSPEDES
Maceo, Martí, Merchán and Masó streets
It is a beautiful central park of the city around which the city`s life revolves. It is ornamented with beautiful granite benches, cast iron lampposts with Spanish motifs, four fountains and four sphinxes on each of its corners, as well as the busts of the heroes the streets are named after. In its center is the main symbol of the city, La Glorieta, inspired on one of the minarets of the Patio de los Leones in the Palacio de la Alhambra, is the work of architect Carlos Segrera and is considered a jewel of the eclectic architecture of the beginning of the century in the locality.
PARROQUIA DE LA PURÍSIMA CONCEPCIÓN (CHURCH)
Maceo between Martí and José Miguel Gómez streets Located on the north side of the park, it stands out for the beauty of its eclectic style construction and the clean lines in the design. It has a clock in one of its towers. Its interior is remarkable for the details of its vaulted ceiling and by the filigree works of its major altar.
TEATRO MANZANILLO (THEATER)
Villuendas and Merchán streets. Tel 023 572973
Built between 1852 and 1856 in Baroque style on its façade,
it stands out for its colorful and beautiful glass and wood ornaments on the outside. Later, neoclassical elements were added, becoming an eclectic building. The luxurious interior is ornamented with the murals of two nymphs on both sides of the stage as well as floral motifs on the ceiling. After long years of repair, its doors were reopened as one of the main cultural stages of the region.
8 MUSEO HISTÓRICO LA DEMAJAGUA (MUSEUM)
Tel 052 1948
Located 13 km to the south of the city of Manzanillo, this was the place where the struggles for the independence of the Island started with the release of the slaves by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes on October 10, 1868. Currently turned into a museum, it displays original pieces of the sugar mill, as well as part of the wall with the bell that would toll summoning the slaves for work and turned into a symbol of freedom. In the vicinity is a jagüey tree that grew in the middle of one of the wheels of the old mill.
9 PARQUE NACIONAL DESEMBARCO DEL GRANMA
Described by many as an earthly paradise, the Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Located in the westernmost part of the Sierra Maestra, it covers an area of 27,000 hectares and is characterized by beautiful cliffs and high vertical escarpments, very well preserved. The area abounds with landscapes full of waterfalls, backwaters, lush vegetation and a varied fauna. There are dozens of archaeological sites in the area, such as Guafe that comprises a collection of ceremonial and funeral caves
10 MAREA DEL PORTILLO
An interesting gray sandy beach, with a fierce surf, and available lodging, is located 15 km east of Pilón. It is the only beach with tourist attractions in the region.