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Ciego de Avila Province - Capital City:
Ciego de Avila

A province in the middle and the narrowest of Cuba, between the atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The mayor plantation in this province is sugar pine apple, bananas and citrus fruits, get one from the trees if you are here, punch your nail in it and smell these limes…you will love it, so fresh!
Most famous to tourist because of the beautiful beaches at Jardines del Rey at its islands; Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo

Ciego de Avila Province Information

The main economic activities are tourism and sugar, food, cattle, and agricultural production. The main products are citrus fruits, especially pineapple, fruits in general, brown and white sugar and also pork, pultry, and dairy products. Ciego de Avila has an international airport and a network of fine highways that connect the territory with Havana and other cities. At the keys there is also an airport, capable of accommodating small and medium-size planes.

The culture of this province is characterized by the prevalence of traditional manifestations. These have their highest expression in the festivals that take place all over the province, as well as in the Cuban country music boom, particularly oral and written decimas (ten stanza poems) and the amateur artist movement.

The Ciego de Avila identity becomes apparent in the area's heavily ingrained cultural traditions. Every year, the Spanish influence emerges in the dancing dispute between the Red and Blue sides, from Majagua municipality, while at the Baragua sugar mill batey (town) the rhythms of Calypso, and traditional food recreate traditional English speaking Caribbean expressions during the festivities marking the anniversary of the abolition of the slavery in the English Antilles, every August 1st. There are popular feasts known as parrandas, with splendid coaches and showy firecrackers, at Chambas and Punta Alegre; then at the bateyes of the sugar factories Venezuela, Ciro Redondo, Bolivia and Primero de Enero, there are festivities of a ritual character connected with Haiti's Lua of the voodoo liturgy.

The Ciego de Avila heritage also has aspects of great historic value, like the Jucaro to Moron militairy road (trocha), one of the most important militairy monuments in the Caribbean. Of unquestionable value are the archeological discoveries of Bolivia and that Punta de los Buchillones.

The National Popular Arts Fair is the cultural event that draws the greatest attention at Ciego de Avila. The Fair, with its varied character, is a perfect opportunity for less well-known players in the traditional culture area, from handicrafts to music, Spanish and Afro Caribbean roots to children manifestations.

The province of Ciego de Avila is located in the Camaguey-Maniabon natural region, bordering to the north with the Old Channel of Bahamas, to the south with the Ana Maria Gulf, to the west with Sancti Spiritus province, and to the east with Camaguey.

It sits on a wide plain that extends from morth to south, cut only by small hills to the north, those of Punta Alegre, Turiguano isle and Cunagua, and to the west by the hills of Tamarindo at Sierra de Jatibonico, 408 meters above sea level, and the hills of Maroqui and Don Felipe. The main soil moderating process here has centered around limestone, which has given rise to caves, drains, and other lime manifestations. In its central part, this great plain has an average altitude of 50 meters, softly descending towards the coast.

The highest area found in the western region , the tallest being the Cunagua Hill, 364 meters above the sea. Crossed by just a few rivers are the Jatibonico and the Caonao, in the north. Latter runs for 133 km. Both in the north and south coasts, quarternaty deposits exist, coinciding with the lowest areas in the province.

In 1977, with the new political and administrative division, Ciego de Avila, which lies 461 km east of Havana, became a province of its own, incorporating the up to then province of Camaguey municipalities of Ciego de Avila and Moron. The capital city is Ciego de Avila City itself, with Morón as second largest city.

The reasons for integrating the 10 municipalities that make up the territory into a single province have to be found in the local history. With the surrender of the Spaniards in the Cuban-Spanish-American war, there was an increase of foreign investment in Cuba, a country whose economy had been torn by the years of fighting. From all parts of the world settlers arrived. They represented the most diverse of occupations and professions: military men, clergymen, peasants, industrials, engineers, accountants, doctors, etc. They arrived by the thousand during the years of 1898 and 1899, attracted by the cheap properties on sale.

The rest of the present municipalities owe their origin to the large investment projects that were executed along the Jucaro-Moron military road, whose vast adjacent territories had taken advantage of, among other things, the communication facilities that were built along the road and connecting it with the main towns nearby. In addition to being very fertile, the lands in the area gained great value due to existence of a railway that united the two Cuban coasts. Sugar production boomed, and many sugar factories were built; and citrus and pineapple growing also expanded noticebly.

In the 20th century all these activities had a great weight in the local economy. In the 20th century too, the Jucaro harbor acquired added importance, and around it and other areas population centers sprung up. These settlements would later become municipal heads.

Ciego de Avila, today the provincial capital, was initially a thicket. in 1938, the town council at Puerto Principe (presently Camaguey) entrusted the area to Jacome de Avila. The property was then known as San Antonio de la Palma, but neighbors soon started calling Ciego of Avila (ciego is Spanish for flat, sandy, isolated land surrounded by forests). This was the name that the city, concidered to have officially been founded in the year 1840, finally adopted.

Jardines del Rey

Founded in 1840, Ciego de Avila City is the capital of the province of the same name. One hundred km south of Cayo Coco it is here where Jardines del Rey tourist area is located. The province has a total extension of 6910 square km and a population of around 407.000 inhabitants, of whom a little over 49% are women. The population density is 59 persons per square km. Ciego de Avilans have a birth rate of 12.9 per one thousand inhabitants, and infant mortality stands at a low 7.1 while life expectancy at birth is 75.36 years. As for healthcare, there is a doctor for every 195 inhabitants and dentist for every 1090

More about Jardines del Rey >>
(Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo & Cayo Santa Maria)

Ciego de Avila City

Capital of the Province Ciego de Avila Not a touristic place, just a little city, but while traveling through Cuba and passing it ... stop and see More about the city Ciego de Avila >>

Morón

Is the second large most important municipality and also the oldest (1750). In 1543 the Sancti Spiritus Town Council entrusted the Moron estate to Don Luis de Almeida. It was named Moron after Ramon Moron, a relative of Don Pedro Moron, one of the founders of the village of Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe.

Located a few km far from Cayo Coco on the north the city of Moron features 19th century European architectural styles. Visiting the monument to the "Moron Rooster" is a must for visitors who have arrived in the city. The monument made by the excellent sculptor Rita Longa, is the symbol of the city also known as the "City of the Rooster".

The first residents of Moron were Creoles from Sancti Spiritus, although among them were also said to be a group of Spanish sailors who, having navigated all around Cuba, had disembarked nearby and had decided to settle here. They were from Andalusia, in Old Castile, Extremadura, Galicia and the Canary Islands, among other places.

Moron in History

Florencia

Whose founding dates back from 1926, emerged as a result of the laying of the railway, at a well known place as Merino. On December 14th, 1958, Florencia became the first liberated territory of the then Camaguey province. A ride on horseback will take visitors to Sierra de Jatibonico, 7.500 km far from this village. During the day trip, at times a difficult one, excursionists will get acquainted with the Cuban peasants' enjoy beautiful views of the valleys and the plantations of tabacco and fruits. They can also visit a nearby artificial lake and watch a strange phenomenon that is the Northern Jatibonico river disappearing into the ground. This river flows into the "Liberation" dam, a big artificial lake excellent for fishing the abundant trout there.

Majagua

Sitio La Vega
Monument
Majagua

Chamblas

Was already being mentioned as a popular settlement in 1665, and in 1767 it was being considered a small village. In 1840 it was subordinated as a town to Moron municipality. The town was named after the local Chambas river, which runs towards the northeast among the Mabay hills, passing near Guadelupe and then heading north, here with the name of Rio de los Perros (Dogs River)

Los Buchillones
Monument
Chamblas

Bolivia

Las Playuelas
Monument
Bolivia

Baraguá

Laguna de San Francisco
Monument
Baraguá