CIEGO DE ÁVILA
Ciego de Avila is the capital of a province whose development depends mainly on agriculture and tourism. The first settlements date back to the XVI century when a notable aborigine population started to inhabit the area.
The area has a modern international airport and a Main Theatre (Teatro Principal), built in 1927, while the Church of San Eugenio de la Palma (Iglesia de San Eugenio de la Palma), the city’s patron, appears as one of the most important and ancient buildings in the city.
Its lands are flat, maybe the flattest in Cuba. There are good pineapple crops, a fruit considered by Cubans as the Queen of all fruits.
The city started to expand around Marti Park, although there are no documents that attest to its construction. The most important meeting place is the corner of the Water House (Casa de Agua), which offers mineral water, as well as homemade refreshments and fruit juices.
MORÓN
Also known as the City of the Rooster (Ciudad del Gallo), it is the closest settlement to the isles of the King’s Gardens (Jardines del Rey) and Turiguanó, a Dutch settlement founded in the sixties decade of the XIX century, and the lagoon of La Redonda (45 square kilometres) where there is an international fishing centre. These are places the visitor must see in the province.
It features the remains of the Trocha fortresses from Júcaro to Morón, which were used by the Spanish in order to divide the island during the War of Independence, trying to avoid the insurrection fighting for Cuba’s freedom spreading to the west.
In the local museum, there is an exhibit of archaeological pieces found in 1947. Near the city is the famous Milk Lagoon (Laguna de la Leche) that harbours wild fauna. Its milk like colour is due to deposits of sodium carbonate.
MORON ROOSTER (GALLO DE MORÓN)
Time has not been able to erase the night of May 2nd of 1982, when the Morón Rooster, in the province of Ciego de Ávila, returned to its pedestal in order to proclaim itself as an undeniable symbol of this town. Some time before this date, intense days of hard labour working on the statue of considerable size and delicate shapes, awaited the Cuban artist Rita Longa, who endeavoured to craft it as she had imagined it. She wanted to work on this project in absolute silence.
Once the beautiful plumes of the statue were forged, she worried about the moment of assembling the heavy sculpture onto the base of the monument. These operations were planned for after midnight in order to avoid curious stares, but what happened was all the opposite and the set up was quite a popular event.
SABANA-CAMAGÜEY ARCHIPELAGO
This is the largest archipelago of those that surround the island of Cuba and is part of the province of Ciego de Ávila. The most famous, the Gardens of the King (Jardines del Rey) is of astounding beauty and is one of the main tourist destinies of beaches in the country.
Its marine bottoms are protected by a coral reef that is the second most extensive in the world, because the first is in Australia.
Among the Jardines del Rey, the most well known destinies are Cayo Coco, from where the coconut bird, also known as white ibis can be seen, and Cayo Guillermo, with the pleasant presence of pink flamencos. It is an isle of 13 square kilometres and features one of the highest dunes in the world, reaching up to 15 meters height.
The archipelago is connected by land to the larger island of Cuba and an airport with a capacity of receiving medium size and small planes is also located here.
Ciego de Avila is the capital of a province whose development depends mainly on agriculture and tourism. The first settlements date back to the XVI century when a notable aborigine population started to inhabit the area.
The area has a modern international airport and a Main Theatre (Teatro Principal), built in 1927, while the Church of San Eugenio de la Palma (Iglesia de San Eugenio de la Palma), the city’s patron, appears as one of the most important and ancient buildings in the city.
Its lands are flat, maybe the flattest in Cuba. There are good pineapple crops, a fruit considered by Cubans as the Queen of all fruits.
The city started to expand around Marti Park, although there are no documents that attest to its construction. The most important meeting place is the corner of the Water House (Casa de Agua), which offers mineral water, as well as homemade refreshments and fruit juices.
Also known as the City of the Rooster (Ciudad del Gallo), it is the closest settlement to the isles of the King’s Gardens (Jardines del Rey) and Turiguanó, a Dutch settlement founded in the sixties decade of the XIX century, and the lagoon of La Redonda (45 square kilometres) where there is an international fishing centre. These are places the visitor must see in the province.
It features the remains of the Trocha fortresses from Júcaro to Morón, which were used by the Spanish in order to divide the island during the War of Independence, trying to avoid the insurrection fighting for Cuba’s freedom spreading to the west.
In the local museum, there is an exhibit of archaeological pieces found in 1947. Near the city is the famous Milk Lagoon (Laguna de la Leche) that harbours wild fauna. Its milk like colour is due to deposits of sodium carbonate.
Time has not been able to erase the night of May 2nd of 1982, when the Morón Rooster, in the province of Ciego de Ávila, returned to its pedestal in order to proclaim itself as an undeniable symbol of this town. Some time before this date, intense days of hard labour working on the statue of considerable size and delicate shapes, awaited the Cuban artist Rita Longa, who endeavoured to craft it as she had imagined it. She wanted to work on this project in absolute silence.
Once the beautiful plumes of the statue were forged, she worried about the moment of assembling the heavy sculpture onto the base of the monument. These operations were planned for after midnight in order to avoid curious stares, but what happened was all the opposite and the set up was quite a popular event.
This is the largest archipelago of those that surround the island of Cuba and is part of the province of Ciego de Ávila. The most famous, the Gardens of the King (Jardines del Rey) is of astounding beauty and is one of the main tourist destinies of beaches in the country.
Its marine bottoms are protected by a coral reef that is the second most extensive in the world, because the first is in Australia.
Among the Jardines del Rey, the most well known destinies are Cayo Coco, from where the coconut bird, also known as white ibis can be seen, and Cayo Guillermo, with the pleasant presence of pink flamencos. It is an isle of 13 square kilometres and features one of the highest dunes in the world, reaching up to 15 meters height.
The archipelago is connected by land to the larger island of Cuba and an airport with a capacity of receiving medium size and small planes is also located here.