Cuba’s second largest city in the southeastern area of the island overlooks a bay on the Caribbean Sea and is an important seaport. Santiago de Cuba is a city of hills and inclined streets surrounded by imposing mountains connecting the Sierra Maestra to the sea. The city attracts visitors with its live music and relaxed feel.
The city’s shady parks are always filled with people and the winding roads go up and down, with the mountainous terrain making sure nothing in this unique city is level. Streets with steps cut in them traverse the old center, and museums, theaters and other cultural institutions lure culture buffs with their offerings.
This is where nearly all the music genres of Cuba originated, and in a country in which the residents express their soul and spirit through music, Santiago occupies a unique space in Cubans’ hearts. The city is filled with a mixture of architectural styles, from baroque to neo-classical, and its carnivals and rum are the most popular in the country.
Highlights
City Hall: was built in 1950 and it was from the central balcony of this building that Fidel Castro held his first speech to the Cuban people on January 1, 1959.
La Moncada’s: yellow barracks are a reminder of the day when Fidel Castro and his band of ragtag rebels staged an assault on the Spanish army’s barracks.
Del Morro Fort: guards the entrance to the Bahía de Santiago on top of a rocky outcrop and now houses the Museum of Piracy.
Bacardi Rum Factory: houses a precious collection covering the period between the Spanish conquest and the Cuban War of Independence.
Cespedes Park: is a former parade square that boasts a full-sized statue of Carlos Manuel Cespedes, the ‘Father of the Nation’, on a marble pedestal. ****