The capital of Granma Province. The city has a rich tradition of Cuban national pride and is often referred to as "the Birthplace of Cuban Nationality" and "the Cradle of Cuban Revolution." Additionally, Bayamo has always been a center of philosophy and maintains a rich intellectual and artistic tradition.

With a population of 130,000 people, Bayamo has experienced considerable growth since it was founded by the Spanish in 1513 as one of the original seven Spanish cities in Cuba. Today, its major commercial importance is in sugar refining.

Bayamo was a valuable hub in the Spanish slave trade, especially as sugarcane crops became the area's predominant economic asset. As a result, there is a strong base of Afro-Cuban culture in the area.

During the 1800's, the emerging upper-middle class of sugarcane farm owners began to be dissatisfied from their lack of representation and influence in the Spanish colonial government. They resented the governors' tactics of continually ensuring that most power, and therefore economic benefit, remained in the hands of European-born Spaniards.

Bayamo was the stronghold of early revolutionary Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, who freed his slaves and declared war against colonialist Spain. During the ensuing battles, Bayamo exchanged hands several times and was once burned to the ground by Cuban rebels as the city was being sacked by the Spanish.

Send us your review about Bayamo

Museo Provincal
Address:
Calle Maceo #58
Bayamo

The visit to this provincial museum turns out to be highly interesting. It is located across from the park of Bayamo and near the birth home of the Father of the Homeland, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, also a museum. The exhibition provides an account of the historical burning of the city, when in 1869 its inhabitants preferred burning it down to giving it over to the Spanish troops. Other documents of the museum are highly important in the formation of the Cuban nationality.

Parque Céspedes

Parque Céspedes is the focal point of downtown Bayamo. It's an exquisite, peaceful square flanked by tall royal palm trees. The light blue and pink building at one end of the square, which today houses a pharmacy, is where the great blaze began. At one end of the plaza is a marble bust of the independence fighter Perucho Figueredo that carries the words and music to La Bayamesa (later the national anthem), which implores followers not to fear "a glorious death" and encourages Cubans that to "die for the homeland is to live." On the other side is a stately granite and bronze statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. Ringing the square are handsome, pastel-colored, arcaded colonial-style (post-1869) buildings. Had the city not been consumed by fire, in all likelihood it would resemble the remarkable colonial core of Trinidad.

Banks

Mail

Medical

Shops