Baracoa

Overview

First City or ciudad primada as BARACOA is called was inhabited by Taino Indians, thus the name, before the arrival of Europeans in 1493 and settlement by them in 1511. Poor geography of the time necessitated moving the capital of Cuba from Baracoa to Santiago de Cuba in the early years of colonization. Isolation and an injeection of French Creole refugees gave Baracoa its unique charm and its eclectic architecture and cuisine. Surrounded by mountains and cradled by thirteen rivers, the nature resonates here and visitors feel the impact of so much greenery and pristine tropical vegetation. There were no slaves here but the Indians whose culture is completely dead harboured runaway slaves and the racial mixture of the locals speak of this in their smiling faces.

Baracoa has always attracted unique individuals to its bosom, starting with La Rusa, a russian beauty married to a turkish jew who made Baracoa her home and played hostess to the revolutionaries at her modest hotel which still is there; then there is Kayamba, the trovador whose voice once was heard all over this coast; Pelu with his curse for Baracoa, most Baracoans still believe in that curse, and the curse hangs over this beautiful coastal city like a menace.. The most interesting person currently residing in Baracoa has to be the local poet, the spiritual guardian of the place, founder of the Museo Matachin, none other than Miguel Angel Castro Machado, simply known as Castro. A story teller extraordinaire, with flowing poetry and...more

History