Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba is Cuba's second city and is located in the east of the country. Founded in 1515 by the spanish conqueror Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, between the first seven villas in Cuba. The conqueror Hernán Cortés was the first mayor of the city and then left for the conquest of Mexico. Santiago also left the conqueror and explorer Panfilo de Narvaez with the title of Governor headed to the coast of Florida trip, a trip that ended in failure and cost him his life.

It was the first capital of Cuba with exceptional geographical conditions. By the Santiago Bay came the first blacks slaves to Cuba and with them, and strong African and Spanish roots. The city has been growing at the bottom of the bay and is surrounded on land by the Sierra Maestra. This makes the hot and humid climate of the place, while you can admire beautiful landscapes with a rich composition of urban elements, natural and marine resources at the same time. It has an irregular land, contributing to the development of an urban setting where the avenues and streets are steep or descend.

In the city match multiple architectural styles, from Baroque to neoclassical more refined. Of particular interest wooded parks, streets graded, the colonial buildings with huge windows and crowded balconies. Santiago historical treasures are preserved as the first house in America, the first cathedral in Cuba, the first copper mine open pit of the entire American continent, or the first museum in Cuba. But beyond its own charms that result from urban environments, Santiago de Cuba can not exist without his people spontaneous, cheerful, natural.