Villa Clara Province
Capital
City:
Santa Clara
In
the center, north of the island of Cuba, you may find the
province of Villa Clara with a geographic extension of 7920
square km. Its capital is the city of Santa Clara, considered
an important junction through which passes the central highway,
the national highway and the central railway line.
Inside
the historic center of the city of Santa Clara, the Vidal
Park stands out. Around this park is located buildings which
transcend as exponents of diverse architectural codes, dating
from colonial, neoclassic, eclectic up to postmodernism.
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This
variety of styles can be distinguished in buildings such as the
De La Caridad Theatre, the House of Culture, the Museum of Decorative
Arts and the Jose Martí Library.
In
the western center of the city, rises the Ernesto Che
Guevara square, one of the sites of great historic
value of the province. Inside it is the Mausoleum where rests the
remains of the Legendary Heroic Guerrilla and his combat comrades,
who had fallen in Bolivia. |
Other
interest sites, which hold the memory of the Villa Clara region
is the Loma del Capiro and the monument to the Tren Blindado (Armoured
Train), places of indubitable historic value where decisive battles
were waged against the Batista tyranny.
Close
to Santa Clara is the municipality of Remedios, eighth village founded
by the Spanish in 1578. In this place, declared a National Monument
genuine colonial works that contain relics such as the Parroquia
Mayor, the Buen Viaje church, the House of Las Arcadas, that of
the Alférez Real and the birthplace of Alejandro García
Caturla, today the Museum of Music. As part of the most ancient
cultural traditions of the region, the world famous Parrandas de
Remedio (Revels of the city of Remedios) stand out. More about Remedios
Che
Guevara Memorial
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Villa Clara Province information
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Las
Brujas and Santa Maria Cayos
Las Brujas and Santa Maria Cayos-together with Fragoso, Cobos,
Ensenachos and Frances Cayos-just off the northern coast of
Villa Clara Province, constitute an island paradise with over
ten and a half miles (17 km) of beaches and virgin nature
that are gradually being opened to tourism. |
Called
"the white rose of the Jardines del Rey Archipelago"
, Santa maria is the last and largest of the cayos. Together
with Las Brujas and Ensenachos Cayos, it is linked to terra
firma by an impressive stone causeway. Santa Maria is 5 square
miles (13 square km) in size. It has over six and a half miles
(11 km) of beaches of excellent quality, plus a wealth of
flora and fauna which can be seen during excursions inlands
There
is a scuba-diving center with 24 well-chosen diving sites,
so you can outfit yourself and see agreat variety of coral
and fish in its clear water and virgin seabed.
Las
Brujas is a tiny islet whose fine white sand, dazzling sea
and untouched nature make its visitors feel like Robinson
Crusoe. It has over a mile of virgin beaches. Its singlestory
cabanas built of a cliff are linked with one another and with
the social areas by wooden bridges, so the local animals-which
are entirely harmless-can be move around freely. On both Cayos
are large numbers of endemic plants and animals.
Location
and How to Get There
The Cayos are just off the northern coast of Villa Clara Province,
in Central Cuba. Santa Clara, the capital of the province,
which is around 62 miles (255 km) east of Havana. They are
linked to terra firma by one of the main engineering works
in Cuba of the 20th century: an ecological stone causeway
built 30 miles (48 km) into the sea, with 45 bridges so as
not to adversely affect the ecosystems and sea currents in
the area. In addition to this means of access, both Las Brujas
Cayo and Santa Clara have airports that can handle small and
medium-sized planes.
What
to Do
Activities
include sunbathing; swimming, scuba diving and other water
sports; hikes along the shore and on the inland portions of
the Cayos; and excursions to other tourist resorts in Cuba
and to points of interest in Villa Clara Province.
Accomodations
and Facilities
On Las Brujas Cayo-which has the airport-there is a villa
of 24 frame cabanas that blend with their surroundings. Near
the Cayo is a ship, the San Pascual, which may well be the
only one of its kind in the world. It was built in Califronia,
but its line was discotinued because of its excessive weight.
The San Pascual ran aground near Las Brujas in 1933 and has
been there ever since, at one time serving as a storehouse
for sugarcane molasses. Now a unique hotel where Ernest Hemingway
and other VIP's have stayed, it has ten rooms, a lobby bar
and a seafood restaurant.
Hotel Cayo Las Brujas
Cayo
Santa Maria has facilities for scuba diving and the Tryp Santa
Maria Hotel, an All Inclusive installation with 300 rooms,
buffet and speciality restaurants, a beach shack, a patio
bar, a pool bar, two club houses with jacuzzis, swimming pools
for children and adults, a party room, an amphitheater, a
baby club, a games room, sports areas, a gym, a scuba diving
school and a water-sports equipment rental center.
Hotel Melia Cayo Santa Maria | Hotel Sol Cayo Santa Maria |
Nearby places of interest
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Villa
Clara has great historic, architectural, cultural and natural
attractions. Its capital, Santa Clara, is an industrial and
educational center with a solid artistic and cultural movement.
It
contains the memorial which contains the remains of Ernesto
Che Guevara and his comrades in the guerilla struggle in Bolivia;
the La Caridad Theater (built in 1885); several museums, including
one of decorative arts; two hotels (the Santa Clara Libre
and Los Caneyes, this last with honeymoon facilities); several
restaurants; and other service installations. |
Other
places of interest in the province include the town of Remedios,
which was founded nearly 500 years ago and has some very well-preserved
colonial architecture, including the Great Parish church (built
in the 16th century); traditional annual festivities, such
as the Remedios revels (one of the most colorful and oldest
popular festivities in the country); and a large service instructure.
Hotel Mascotte Remedios
The
Elgua Spa, with its medical mineral water, is a popular destination
in health tourism and quality-of-life tourism programs. It,
too, is in Villa Clara Province-as is Lake Hanabanilla (the
only mountain lake in the archipelago), up in the Escambray
Mountains, which has a hotel and ideal conditions for fishing
for such freshwater fish as Largemouth Bass (tag and release).
Activities include excursions around the lake, hiking, bird
watching and nature walks.
Hotel and Spa Elegua
We
recommend driving through the Escambray Mountains area, both
to see its beautiful scenery and to and to learn about the
farmers traditional way of life. To get there from the Cayos,
start from the port of the Caibarien.
Santa
Clara |
Nature
Nature,
with its power of creation, offers the visitor who ventures the
Villa Clara plains and mountains a trip of amazing colors and contrasts.
We put at your reach the opportunity to visit real natural reservoirs,
where unique animal and vegetable species dominate.
To
the south of the city of Santa Clara is the Cubanacan Protected
Area. This natural paradise, is the refuge of amphibians, reptiles,
mammals and birds. In this place there are 10 species that conform
to the list of endemic groups of our country.
Occupying
part of the Villa Clara region, we find the mountainous massif of
Escambray. Along its big slopes, sinuous pathways and persistence
of forest areas, is a bastion for the last flocks of parrots (Amazona
leucocephala) that can be seen in the province. Amongst the birds
one can also observe the Cuban Trogan, known as the national bird,
woodpeckers and sparrowhawks. Other representatives of the fauna
of this ecosystem are the deer and the hutia congas and carabalies.
At this place La Hanabanilla, the only intramountainous lake of
Cuba can be found.
Other towns
Encrucijada |
Casa de Jesús
Menéndez Larrondo
Museo
Carretera La Palma No. 1,
finca Labrador, Encrucijada |
Casa Natal de Abel Santamaría
Cuadrado
Museo
2da. del Norte No. 1, Encrucijada |
Sagua Grande |
Casa Natal de
Manuel Ascunse Domenech
Museo
Carmen Ribalta No. 62,
Sagua la Grande |
Casa Natal del
pintor Wifredo Lam
Museo
Carmen Ribalta No. 334,
Sagua la Grande |
Remedios |
Centro Histórico
Urbano de Remedios
Remedios |
Museo de la Música
“Alejandro García Caturla”
Camilo Cienfuegos No. 5,
Remedios |
Museo de las
Parrandas Remedianas
Máximo Gómez No. 7, Remedios |
Museo Histórico “Francisco
Javier Balmaseda”
General Maceo No. 56, Remedios |
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