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Baracoa
KNOWLEDGE OF Baracoa
Baracoa (20° 20' N, 74° 30' W, 1996: 50.000 inhabitants) is a city in Guantánamo province in Cuba, near the eastern tip. It was founded by the first governor of Cuba Diego Velázquez in 1511, which makes it not only the oldest Spanish settlement in Cuba but also its first capital (and gives it the nickname 'Ciudad Primada'). It is located on the spot where Christopher Columbus landed on Cuban soil on his first voyage. It is assumed that the name stems from an indigenous word meaning 'close to the sea'.
Baracoa is surrounded by a wide mountain range (including the Sierra del Purial), which causes it to be quite isolated, apart from a single mountain road that was built in the 1960's.
The original inhabitants of the island were Taíno. They were eradicated by the Spanish all over Cuba except here and this is the only place where descendants still live. A local hero is Hatuey, who fled from the Spanish in Hispaniola and raised a Taíno army to fight the Spanish in Cuba, but was betrayed by one of his own and sentenced to the stake. It is said that just before he died a priest tried to convert him so he would go to heaven. He asked if that's where the dead Spanish go. When he received an affirmative answer he said that in that case he'd rather go to hell.
On 27 October 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba in a place he named Porto Santo. It is generally assumed from his description that this was Baracoa, although there are also claims it was Gibara. But Columbus also described a nearby table mountain, which is almost certainly nearby el Yunque. He wrote in his logbook ... the most beautiful place in the world ...I heard the birds sing that they will never ever leave this place.... According to legend, Columbus put a cross called Cruz de la Parra in the sands of what would later become Baracoa harbor.
Around 15 August 1511 (the official foundation day) Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar was appointed the first governor of Cuba and built a villa here and named the place 'Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa', thus making Baracoa the first capital of Cuba. In 1518 it received the title of city and the first Cuban bishop was appointed here. As a result several remains of the Spanish occupation can still be seen here, such as the fortifications El Castillo, Matachín and La Punta and the cemetery.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the isolated location made it a haven for illegal trade with the French and English. At the beginning of the 19th century many French fled here from the revolution of independence in Haiti, who started growing coffee and cocoa.
From the middle of the 19th century many expeditions of independence fighters landed here (including Antonio Maceo and José Martí) which greatly helped the independence from Spain in 1902.
Before the Cuban revolution the only access was by sea, but in the 1960's a 120 km long road from Guantánamo named La Farola was built through the mountains, which was one of the showcases of the revolution. The highest point of the road is at over 600 m and it passes 11 bridges.
After the Cuban Revolution the brothers Raul and Fidel Castro and Che Guevara allegedly spent a holiday here in hotel 'La Russa'.
Baracoa is surrounded by a wide mountain range (including the Sierra del Purial), which causes it to be quite isolated, apart from a single mountain road that was built in the 1960's.
The original inhabitants of the island were Taíno. They were eradicated by the Spanish all over Cuba except here and this is the only place where descendants still live. A local hero is Hatuey, who fled from the Spanish in Hispaniola and raised a Taíno army to fight the Spanish in Cuba, but was betrayed by one of his own and sentenced to the stake. It is said that just before he died a priest tried to convert him so he would go to heaven. He asked if that's where the dead Spanish go. When he received an affirmative answer he said that in that case he'd rather go to hell.
On 27 October 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba in a place he named Porto Santo. It is generally assumed from his description that this was Baracoa, although there are also claims it was Gibara. But Columbus also described a nearby table mountain, which is almost certainly nearby el Yunque. He wrote in his logbook ... the most beautiful place in the world ...I heard the birds sing that they will never ever leave this place.... According to legend, Columbus put a cross called Cruz de la Parra in the sands of what would later become Baracoa harbor.
Around 15 August 1511 (the official foundation day) Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar was appointed the first governor of Cuba and built a villa here and named the place 'Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa', thus making Baracoa the first capital of Cuba. In 1518 it received the title of city and the first Cuban bishop was appointed here. As a result several remains of the Spanish occupation can still be seen here, such as the fortifications El Castillo, Matachín and La Punta and the cemetery.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the isolated location made it a haven for illegal trade with the French and English. At the beginning of the 19th century many French fled here from the revolution of independence in Haiti, who started growing coffee and cocoa.
From the middle of the 19th century many expeditions of independence fighters landed here (including Antonio Maceo and José Martí) which greatly helped the independence from Spain in 1902.
Before the Cuban revolution the only access was by sea, but in the 1960's a 120 km long road from Guantánamo named La Farola was built through the mountains, which was one of the showcases of the revolution. The highest point of the road is at over 600 m and it passes 11 bridges.
After the Cuban Revolution the brothers Raul and Fidel Castro and Che Guevara allegedly spent a holiday here in hotel 'La Russa'.
Chapi