Viva Cuba – part II

Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar funded the city under the name Villa De la Santísima Trinidad on December 23rd in 1514. Francisco Iznaga, a rich Basque landowner became the mayor in 1540. His name is very important, for it was his descendents who fought the war for independence of Cuba and joining it with the USA three centuries later (1820 – 1900).

Trinidad is one of best preserved cities in the Caribbean, from the times when sugar cane was the prime product. That is why the town is listed on the UNESCO world heritage list.

It’s the sugar production that leads us to the valley of sugar mills, where we take the museum train to the final station in the village, named after the first mayor of Trinidad “Iznaga.” You can see this lovely village HERE.

But since speaking of history, without seeing it “in situ” leaves you kindda dry, let’s walk down the streets of Trinidad by clicking HERE.

Like elsewhere on Cuba, there are many pleasant sleepovers here, among others the “House of friendship” or »Casa de amistad«, run by the ICAP, institute for friendly organizations to Cuba and is open for all visitors.

If you prefer the crystal clear sea to the busy town, you can go to the Ancon beach (Playa Ancon) and enjoy the all inclusive offers, or return back to the city which is only a few minutes away.

And just like me, you will also have to leave Trinidad eventually and I’d suggest you to go through Cienfuegos up to Santa Clara, with a memorial dedicated to a man, who personifies the fight for every human’s right – Ernesto Guevara, better known as Che.

A beautiful panoramic road leads up to Cienfuegosa, but beware of strange obstacles on the way. Every now and again the road is covered with crabs and turns red. And since some of the crabs also die here, there are many scavengers near by, who live off the crabby road-kill. Avoiding the still not dead crabs might prolong your journey, but the road is much shorter and thus makes a better alternative to taking the main road inlands.

You can see this road HERE.

After the infinity of breath taking views of the sea and stops at different beaches, the arrival to Cienfuegos offers you new pleasant experiences.

It’s the town with the most neoclassical Architecture in the Caribbean.

The town started to develop from the fortress Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Jagua on, since 1745, that was built as defense from the pirates and protected the narrow passage at the entrance of the »Bahia de Cienfuegos” bay.  The town center started developing at the beginning of the 19th century (1819 – 1850 the city only had 6 buildings). The further 327 were built before the beginning of the 20th century. Today the municipality has 160.000 people, and the main industry is transport, as the town is one of the most important ports on Cuba. Because of its neoclassical view UNESCO placed it on the world heritage list in 2005.

This CLICK will take you to the town of Cienfuegosa.

Cienfuegos also has another special site, but of a more sad character. In 1976 Cuba and the Soviet Union signed the agreement for the building of the nuclear power plant, that covered 15% of the electrical needs at that time. In 1983 they started constructing the new reactor which was scheduled to go online in 1993. The collapse of the Soviet Union the Jaragua never went online, although the outside is completely finished. It was because of the new conditions that Russia  set, why Fidel Castro (who was the president at that time) stopped the building of the construction in September 1992.

The way to the powerplant and the town of Jaragua, built just for the plant, can be seen HERE.

Next time see: Santa Clara, Pinar del Rio, Vinales and the way to Havana.