Cuba - Lonely Planet [315]
Founded in 1784 as a small fishing port, Manzanillo’s early history was dominated by smugglers and pirates trading in contraband goods. The subterfuge continued into the late 1950s, when the city’s proximity to the Sierra Maestra made it an important supply center for arms and men heading up to Castro’s revolutionaries in their secret mountaintop headquarters.
Manzanillo is famous for its hand-operated street organs, which were first imported into Cuba from France by the local Fornaris and Borbolla families in the early 20th century (and are still widely in use). The city’s musical legacy was solidified further in 1972 when it hosted a government-sponsored nueva trova festival that culminated in a solidarity march to Playa Las Coloradas (Click here).
Information
Banco de Crédito y Comercio (cnr Merchán & Saco; 8:30am-3:30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat)
Cadeca ( 57-71-25; Martí No 188; 8:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, 8am-1pm Sun) Two blocks from the main square. With few places accepting Convertibles here, you’ll need some Cuban pesos.
Post office (cnr Martí & Codina) One block from Parque Céspedes.
Sights
IN TOWN
Although it may be a little dingy these days, Manzanillo is well known for its striking architecture, a psychedelic mélange of wooden beach shacks, Andalusian-style townhouses and intricate neo-Moorish facades. Check out the old City Bank of NY building (cnr Merchán & Doctor Codina), dating from 1913, or the ramshackle wooden abodes around Perucho Figueredo, between Merchán and JM Gómez.
Manzanillo’s central square, Parque Céspedes, is notable for its priceless glorieta (gazebo/bandstand), where Moorish mosaics, a scalloped cupola and arabesque columns set off a theme that’s replicated elsewhere. Completely restored a decade ago, the bandstand – an imitation of the Patio de los Leones in Spain’s Alhambra – shines brightly amid the urban decay. Nearby, a permanent statue of Carlos Puebla, Manzanillo’s famous homegrown troubadour, sits contemplatively on a bench admiring the surrounding cityscape.
On the eastern side of Parque Céspedes is the Museo Histórico Municipal (Martí No 226; admission free; 8am-noon & 2-6pm Tue-Fri, 8am-noon & 6-10pm Sat & Sun), giving the usual local history lesson with a revolutionary twist. There’s an art gallery next door. The city’s neoclassical Iglesia de la Purísima Concepción was initiated in 1805, but the twin bell towers were added in 1918. The church, named after Manzanillo’s patron saint, is notable for its impressive gilded altarpiece.
About eight blocks southwest of the park lies Manzanillo’s most evocative sight, the Celia Sánchez Monument. Built in 1990, this terra-cotta tiled staircase embellished with colorful ceramic murals runs up Calle Caridad between Martí and Luz Caballero. The birds and flowers on the reliefs represent Sánchez, lynchpin of the M-26-7 Movement and longtime aid to Castro, whose visage appears on the central mural near the top of the stairs. It’s a moving memorial with excellent views out over the city and bay.
OUTSIDE TOWN
The Museo Histórico La Demajagua (admission CUC$1; 8am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sun) started with a cry. Ten kilometers south of Manzanillo across the grassy expanses of western Granma lies La Demajagua, the site of the sugar estate of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes whose Grito de Yara and subsequent freeing of his slaves on October 10, 1868, marked the opening shot of Cuba’s independence wars. There’s a small museum here along with the remains of Céspedes’ ingenio (sugar mill), a poignant monument (with a quote from Castro) and the famous Demajagua