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Cienfuegos, the Pearl of the South • Cuba

Discover Cienfuegos, the pearl of southern Cuba, in just over 3 minutes. Explore its lively streets, unique neoclassical architecture, and vintage cars. A quick dive into the history and culture of this charming and colorful city awaits you.
00:00 • intro | 00:35 • streets and buildings | 02:13 • some old cars

Personal creation from visual material collected during my trip Cuba (2015)

Cienfuegos

The city of Cienfuegos is located in one of the most beautiful bays in the Caribbean Sea. It owes its name to the Cuban Governor General Jose Cienfuegos.

When Christopher Columbus discovered this gulf in 1494, the Jagua Indians had occupied the area for many generations. The city's first name was actually Colonia Fernandina de Jagua and was founded by French immigrants led by a French general in the Spanish army, Louis de Clouet.

As in almost all port cities, the Spaniards built a fort there in 1745 to defend themselves from the pirates who infested the Caribbean Sea at that time.

Rise of the city of Cienfuegos

Although the city was one of the last colonies established in Cuba by the Spanish, its port quickly gained importance on the trade route between Jamaica and the cities of South America. And with the arrival of the railway in the region in the mid-19th century, Cienfuegos became one of the economic centers of Cuba, especially when it came to the sugar industry.

City center classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

In 2005, Cienfuegos became the third city to be classified as World Heritage by Unesco, after Havana and Trinidad. Only the center is classified because the city is bordered by many industries. Cienfuegos owes its classification to its typical architecture paying particular attention to town planning with a concern for hygiene and safety, which made it one of the most remarkable cities in Latin America at the end of the 19th century.

about the place, Cienfuegos:

Cienfuegos is a city located on the southern coast of Cuba about 250 kilometers from Havana. The city has about 150,000 inhabitants. Since the 1960s, Cienfuego has become an important industrial hub, especially in the fields of energy and sugar. The city nickname is "The Pearl of the South". The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the quality of its historic buildings.

 

passer-by, Cienfuegos • Cuba
fishing harbour, Cienfuegos • Cuba

fishing harbour

near Jose Marty Park, Cienfuegos • Cuba

near Jose Marty Park

Palacio de Gobernio  (Palacio de Valle), Cienfuegos • Cuba

Palacio de Gobernio (Palacio de Valle)

old timer, Cienfuegos • Cuba

old timer

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