File18-camaguey-loc-cub6.dwg Book Initial Mapping Date Road Cuba 6 AndrewS May 2011 Scale All key roads labelled?Hierarchy Hydro ChapterCamaguey Province Editor Cxns Date Title Spot colours removed?Hierarchy Symbols Author MC Cxns Date Nthpt Masking in Illustrator done? ?? Book Off map Inset/enlargement correct?dest'ns BorderLocator A1 Key none Author Cxns Date Notes Basefile Final Ed Cxns Date26/07/06KEY FORMAT SETTINGS New References Number of Rows (Lines) Editor Check Date

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Camagüey%032 / Pop 782,458 Province

Why Go? Camagüey...... 310 Neither Occidente nor Oriente, Camagüey is Cuba’s provin- Florida...... 321 cial contrarian, a region that likes to go its own way in po- Sierra del Chorrillo. .321 litical and cultural matters – and usually does – much to the chagrin of its neighbors in Havana and Santiago. Guáimaro . . . . . 322 The seeds were sown in the colonial era, when Ca- Minas...... 322 magüey’s preference for cattle ranching over sugarcane Nuevitas ...... 322 meant less reliance on slave labor and more enthusiasm to Brasil...... 323 get rid of a system that bred misery. Cayo Sabinal. . . . 324 Today Cuba’s largest province is a pastoral mix of grazing cattle and disused sugar mills. Devoid of any mountains of Playa Santa Lucía. . 325 note, it is flanked by Cuba’s two largest archipelagos: the Sa- bana-Camagüey in the north and the Jardines de la Reina in the south, both underdeveloped and almost virgin in places. Best Places to Eat Staunchly Catholic Camagüey is the province as a micro- cosm, a city that nurtured revolutionary poet Nicolás Guil- »»C afé Ciudad (p317) lén, groundbreaking scientist Carlos J Finlay and an inter- »»R estaurante la nationally famous ballet company. Isabella (p317) »»E l Bucanero (p326) When to Go P aladar la Terraza (p317) »» There’s debate about the actual year of Camagüey’s found- ing, but that doesn’t stop everyone taking to the streets in Best Places early February to celebrate the Jornada de la Cultura Ca- magüeyana (Days of Camagüeyan Culture). For outdoor en- to Stay thusiasts, March is prime time for viewing migratory birds »»G ran Hotel (p315) on the northern keys. To the east, in Playa Santa Lucía, the »»H otel Colón (p315) amazing underwater shark-feeding show is held when the »»L os Vitrales (p315) sharks are in the area between June and January. »»M otel la Belén (p322) Aside from swashbuckling independence 310 Camagüey hero Ignacio Agramonte, Camagüey has pop 324,921 produced several local personalities of note, Welcome to the maze. Caught inadver- including poet and patriot Nicolás Guillén tently in the tide of history, Camagüey is a and eminent doctor Carlos J Finlay, the man Latin American city without precedent. The who was largely responsible for discover- oddities lie in its unique urban layout. Two ing the causes of yellow fever. In 1959 the centuries spent fighting off musket-toting prosperous citizens quickly fell foul of the pirates such as Henry Morgan led the fledg- Castro revolutionaries when local military ling settlement to develop a peculiar laby- commander Huber Matos (Fidel’s one-time rinthine street pattern designed to confuse ally) accused El Líder Máximo of burying pillaging invaders and provide cover for its the Revolution. He was duly arrested and long-suffering residents (or so legend has it). later thrown in prison for his pains. As a result, Camagüey’s sinuous streets and Loyally Catholic, Camagüey welcomed narrow winding alleys are more reminiscent Pope John Paul II in 1998 and in 2008 it be- of a Moroccan medina than the geometric atified Cuba’s first saint, ‘Father of the Poor’ grids of Lima or Mexico City. Fray José Olallo, a member of the Order of Sandwiched on Carretera Central halfway Saint John who aided the wounded of both between Ciego de Ávila and Las Tunas, the sides in the 1868–78 War of Independence. city of tinajones (clay pots), as Camagüey Raúl Castro attended the ceremony. is sometimes known, is Cuba’s third-largest city and the bastion of the Catholic Church 1 Sights on the island. Well known for going their Plaza San Juan de Dios Square own way in times of crisis, the resilient (cnr Hurtado & Paco Recio) Wide-open Plaza San C

amagüey Province Province amagüey citizens are popularly called ‘Agramonti- Juan de Dios is Camagüey’s most picturesque nos’ by other Cubans, after local First War corner and the only town plaza to retain its of Independence hero Ignacio Agramonte, original layout and buildings. Its eastern coauthor of the Guáimaro constitution and aspect is dominated by the Museo de San courageous leader of Cuba’s finest cavalry Juan de Dios (admission CUC$1; h9am-5pm brigade. In 2008 its well-preserved historical Tue-Sat, to 1pm Sun), housed in what was once center was made Cuba’s ninth Unesco World a hospital administered by Father José Olal- Heritage Site. lo, the Cuban friar who became Cuba’s first Some travelers love Camagüey with its saint. The hospital has a front cloister dating secret nooks and crannies. Others are not from 1728 and a unique triangular rear patio  so enamored, with its unsavory reputation with Moorish touches, built in 1840. Since for bike thieves and jineteros (touts). Take to ceasing to function as a hospital in 1902, the the maze and find out for yourself. building has served as a teachers college, a refuge during the 1932 cyclone, and the Cen-

History tro Provincial de Patrimonio directing the Founded in February 1514 as one of Diego restoration of Camagüey’s monuments. The Velázquez’ hallowed seven ‘villas’, Santa museum chronicles Camagüey’s history and María del Puerto Príncipe was originally es- exhibits some local paintings. tablished on the coast near the site of pres- ent-day Nuevitas. Due to a series of bloody Museo Casa Natal de rebellions by the local Taíno people, the site Ignacio Agramonte Museum of the city was moved twice in the early 16th (Av Agramonte No 459; admission CUC$2; h10am- century, finally taking up its present location 5:45pm Tue-Thu, 8am-noon Sun) Opposite Igle- in 1528. Its name was changed to Camagüey sia de Nuestra Señora de la Merced, on the in 1903. corner of Independencia, is the birthplace of Camagüey developed quickly in the 1600s the independence hero Ignacio Agramonte – despite continued attacks by corsairs – (1841–73), the cattle rancher who led the re- with an economy based on sugar production volt against Spain in this area in 1868. In July and cattle-rearing. Due to acute water short- 1869 rebel forces under Agramonte bombard- ages in the area, the townsfolk were forced ed Camagüey, and four years later he was to make tinajones in order to collect rain- killed in action (aged only 32) fighting brave- water and even today Camagüey is known ly against the Spanish. You can hear Cuban as the city of tinajones – although the pots folk singer Silvio Rodríguez’ anthem to this now serve a strictly ornamental purpose. hero, who was nicknamed ‘El Mayor’ (Major),