scubish.com: Travel information for Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos , the Pearl of the South, is a small city in the Central Cuban province of Cienfuegos.

Understand

5 Septiembre, is the local periodical.

See

Tomas Terry theatre. Victorian theatre in the main square in Cienfuegos, has nice cafe.

Freshwater fishing. Drive to the nearby secluded mountain lakes to fish for the plentiful bass.

Harbour boat trip. Take a boat trip round the harbour, stopping off at an island and chatting to the locals and enjoying a mojito.

Malecon. Walk along and hang out at the malecon (sea front) in the evenings.

Eat

Yacht Club. Quite touristy but pleasant to eat in the formal restaurant upstairs or the informal snack bar in the basement.

Drink

Benny More. A nightclub which features Salsa Music and dancing.

Palacio. Adjacent to the Hotel Jagua south of the Malecon, this is an amazing building, lavishly decorated in Moorish style. There is a fairly standard fare restaurant, but it is worth climbing to the rooftop bar for a drink sitting under an arched gazebo looking over the city and the harbour.

Sleep

Hotel Faro Luna. Staying at the Faro Luna is like being at your own villa, only 25-30 rooms a beautiful pool overlooking the Caribbean and attentive staff.

Hotel Jagua. This is a large hotel to the south of the city, around 2km from the city centre. The building itself is a square concrete block and fairly unattractive. However, the rooms and facilities are pretty good by Cuban standards. For cheap water and drinks, visit the shop outside the hotel, opposite the entrance, rather than the hotel shop itself and pay half the price.

Get out

Santa Clara. Take a day trip to Santa Clara, approx 1 hour away, to visit the museum and resting place of Che Guevara.

Swim with dolphins. There is an aquarium east of Cienfuegos where you can swim with dolphins and be propelled out of the water balanced on their noses at a pretty low cost - around 50 CUC.

Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of the province of Cienfuegos. It is located about 250 km (155 miles) from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed "La Perla del Sur".

Geography

Near the entrance to the Bahia de Cienfuegos (bahia meaning "bay") is Castillo de Jagua (full name Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Jagua), a fortress erected in the 1745 for protection against Caribbean pirates.

Cienfuegos, one of the chief seaports of Cuba, is a center of the sugar trade, as well as coffee and tobacco. While sugarcane is the chief crop, local farmers grow coffee.

History

The area was called Cacicazgo de Jagua when the Spanish arrived here, and was settled by indigenous people.
The city was settled by French immigrants from Bordeaux and Louisiana, led by Don Louis D'Clouet, on April 22 1819. Its original name was Fernardina de Jagua , in honor of Ferdinand VII of Spain. The settlement became a town (Spanish: Villa) in 1829, and a city in 1880. The city was subsequently named Cienfuegos, sharing the name with Cienfuegos, a capitán general (Spanish governor) in this time, in the island.

Cienfuegos literally translates to "Hundred fires".

The downtown contains 6 buildings from 1819-50, 327 buildings from 1851-1900, and 1188 buildings from the 20th century. There is no other place in the Caribbean which contains such a remarkable cluster of Neoclassical structures.

World Heritage Site

In 2005, UNESCO inscribed the Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos on the World Heritage List, citing Cienfuegos as the best extant example of the 19th-century early Spanish Enlightenment implementation in urban planning.

Hurricane Dennis 2005

In 2005, Hurricane Dennis made its second landfall near Cienfuegos at about 1:00PM AST (17:00 UTC) with winds of 232km/h (144 MPH), and gusts reaching 285 km/h (177 MPH).

Attractions

Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Jagua - fortress

Arco de Triunfo - the only Arco de Triunfo in Cuba

Cathedral de la Purisma Conception - cathedral with stained glass work, built 1833-1869.

Delfinario - dolphins and sea lions in a slatwater lagoon

Jardín Botánico Soledad de Cienfuegos - 97 hectares of botanic garden

Museo Provincial - furniture and porcelain museum

Palacio de Valle - built 1913-1917 in neo-gothic style

Palmira Yorubá Pantheon - museum of religious afro-catholoc syncretism

Parque José Martí - park in Plaza de Armas

Photo gallery

Image:CienfuegosAyuntamiento.JPG|Cienfuego's Marti Park with the City's Hall in the back.
Image:CienfuegosMarti.JPG|Statue of Jose Marti, Cuban most beloved patriot and poet, in the center of the Park, with a depiction of a Madonna representing the Republic of Cuba.
Image:CienfuegosLeon.JPG|Gate with Lions and Tomas Terry Theater in the back, along with La Caridad in Villa Clara, is one the colonial jewels of Cuba.
Image:CienfuegosCatedral.JPG|Cienfuegos' Cathedral.
Image:CienfuegosBoulevard.JPG|Pedestrian Boulevard connecting Marti Park with Prado street.
Image:CienfuegosPrado.JPG|Cienfuegos' Prado, along with the one in Havana one of the longest and most beautiful in the island.
Image:CienfuegosValle.JPG|'Palacio de Valle' or Valle's Palace in La Punta.
Image:DirkvdM cienfuegos state hotel.jpg|The 'Palacio Azul', Blue Palace a state hotel towards the south (rooms from 25 euro/32 dollars upwards)

Famous residents

Benny Moré - one of the greatest Cuban singers