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Cienfuegos%043 / pop 405,545 Province
Why Go? Cienfuegos . . . . . 233 Bienvenue (welcome) to Cienfuegos province. If Cuba has a Rancho Luna . . . . 243 Gallic heart, it’s hidden beneath the crinkled Sierra del Escam- Castillo de Jagua. . 244 bray; if it has a Paris, it is the finely-sculpted provincial capital, glistening pearl-like beside the island’s best natural bay. Laguna Guanaroca. . 245 The original French colonizers arrived here in 1819. They Jardín Botánico brought with them the ideas of the European Enlighten- de Cienfuegos . . . 245 ment, which they industriously incorporated into their El Nicho...... 245 fledgling neoclassical city. The Caribbean Cienfuegos sits on a coast curling like a mini-rainbow Coast...... 245 of emerald greens and iridescent blues, flecked with coves, caves and sublime coral reefs. The province’s apex is just inland at El Nicho, a lush outpost of Topes de Collantes Natural Park. Best Places to Eat Though ostensibly white, Cienfuegos’ once-muted Af- »»P aladar Aché (p240) rican ‘soul’ gained a mouthpiece in the 1940s in perhaps »»H acienda la Vega (p245) Cuba’s most versatile musician, Benny Moré. Nor was he Cienfuegos’ only Afro-Cuban improviser: in nearby Palmira, »»P alacio de Valle (p240) Santería brotherhoods still preserve the traditions of Cuba’s »»C lub Cienfuegos (p243) hybrid Catholic-Yoruba religious culture.
Best Places When to Go to Stay Cienfuegos’ high season, such as it is, doesn’t really get go- »»Villa Lagarto Maylin ing until January and runs through to April. Beach-lovers & Tony (p238) and divers should hit the Caribbean coast then but party- »»H otel la Unión (p242) goers will prefer August and September, when despite the imminent hurricane season, the Cienfuegos carnival and the »»H ostal Palacio Azul (p239) bi-annual Benny Moré festival respectively can be enjoyed. »»B ella Perla Marina (p238) Up at El Nicho in the Sierra del Escambray, travel in the wet »»Villa Guajimico (p246) season (August to October) is tougher at this time due to difficult road conditions. History singer Benny Moré. He wasn’t the settle- The first settlers in the Cienfuegos area were ment’s only cheerleader. Cuba’s so-called 233 Taínos, who called their fledgling principal- Perla del Sur (Pearl of the South) has long ity, Cacicazgo de Jagua – a native word for seduced travelers from around the island ‘beauty.’ In 1494 Columbus ‘discovered’ the with its elegance, enlightened French spirit Bahía de Cienfuegos (Cuba’s third-largest bay, and feisty Caribbean panache. If Cuba has a with a surface area of 88 sq km) on his second Paris, this is most definitely it.
voyage to the New World and 14 years later Arranged around the country’s most C Sebastián de Ocampo stopped by during his spectacular natural bay, Cienfuegos is a Province ienfuegos pioneering circumnavigation of the island. He nautical city with an enviable waterside liked the bay so much he built a house there. setting. Founded in 1819, it’s one of Cuba’s The pirates followed the explorers: during the newest settlements, but also one of its most 16th and 17th centuries buccaneering raids architecturally homogeneous, a factor that got so bad the Spanish built a bayside fort, the earned it a Unesco World Heritage Site list- imposing Castillo de Jagua (p244), one of the ing in 2005. Geographically, the city is split most important military structures in Cuba. into two distinct parts: the colonnaded cen- tral zone with its elegant Prado and Parque Martí; and Punta Gorda, a thin knife of land C Cienfuegos slicing into the bay with a clutch of eclectic ienfueg pop 143,894 early 20th-century palaces, including Cuba’s La ciudad que más me gusta a mí (the city I prettiest palatial buildings. like the best), reads a billboard on the Bahía While much of Cuba is visibly reel- ing in the current economic crisis, Cien- o de Cienfuegos, quoting the words of native s fuegos seems to positively glitter. It’s not
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Autopista Nacional Santa Clara Aguada de Pasajeros Santa Isabel Rodas de las Lajas Ranchuelo Cruces
Yaguaramas Matanzas Palmira Province Villa Clara Province Cienfuegos Punta Gorda Jardín Botánico de Cienfuegos Laguna Crucitas Playa Castillo de Guanaroca Jagua El Nicho Girón Rancho C A R I B B E A N Luna La Sierrita S E A Sancti Spíritus Province
Cienfuegos Province Highlights 1 Stroll amid eclectic 3 Stay in an amazing 5 Bask at, or dive off, the 19th-century architecture in casa particular in beach in Rancho Luna (p243) gorgeous Parque Jose Martí Cienfuegos’ classic 6 Spot pink flamingos and (p234) in the capital neighborhood of pelicans at the little-visited 2 Pamper yourself amid Punta Gorda (p238) Laguna Guanaroca (p245) the magnificent rooms, 4 Track the legend of 7 Hike to bracing El Nicho beautiful bars and colonial Benny Moré in Santa Isabel (p245) and cool down in an luxury of Hotel la Unión de las Lajas (see p244) invigorating waterfall (p242) in Cienfuegos