Villa Clara is located
in the central part of Cuba and borders on the Caribbean
Sea to the north, on Matanzas province to the west,
on Sancti Spiritus province to the east and on Cienfuegos
province to the south. Its capital is Santa Clara city,
considered an important junction through which the old
central road, the national highway and the central railway
pass.
This prosperous province has a surface area of 8,662
square kilometers (3,092 square miles) and a population
of around 825,800 inhabitants. Its highest point is
the Alturas de Santa Clara, at 464m (1,520 ft.) above
sea level.
Casa Albertina
Budget
Accommodation
in Vedado, Havana
Hotel Nacional
Recomended
Hotel
in Havana
The northern coast is lined with
ports and bays and contains many fish cooperatives
and sandy beaches. This coast also has numerous small
cays, scrublands, mangroves and coral reefs near the
shoreline.
Moreover, it has numerous lakes, which are used for
both water sports and fishing. The largest Cuban river
flowing into the Atlantic Ocean, Sagua la Grande river,
is also in this province.
Villa Clara is a very industrial area of Cuba, with
several large sugar mills and the most important refrigerator
and cooker factory in the country, which provide employment
to many people.
The mining industry is also an important ecomomy resource,
with gold and pyrite deposits, and an oilfield in
Motembo. Sugarcane is its major crop; subsistence
agriculture is also practiced, and there is some cattle
rising.
Villa Clara has a prosperous tourist industry,
with special interest for nature tourists.
Comfortable hotels have been built in some
of the most beautiful spots in Santa Clara,
Remedios, Hanabanilla and some keys, to facilitate
your enjoyment of nature.
The best time to visit Villa Clara is December though
April is also the most popular time. The weather is
at its coolest and driest during these months, yet
it's still far warmer than those of North America
and Europe.
In the spring and fall, it's off season and this may
mean fewer hotel amenities. There are, however, benefits
for traveling in the low season: lack of crowds and
prices that tumble by up to 25%.
Tops destinations in Villa Clara,
Cuba are:
Santa Clara
Remedios
Caibarien
Sagua la Grande
El Salto del Hanabanilla
Baños de Elguea
Cayo Santa Maria
Placetas
Encrucijada
Cayo Santa Maria
Cayo Francés
Cayo Las Picuas
Cayo Fragoso
Cayo Conuco
Santa
Clara city (1689): known
by the indigenous people as "Cubanacan,"
which means "center of Cuba,” the capital
of the province is around 276 kilometers (172 miles)
east of Havana and is an industrial and educational
center with a solid artistic and cultural movement.
In its historic center, the Vidal Park stands out.
Around this park there are buildings which transcend
as exponents of diverse architectural codes, dating
from colonial, neoclassic, eclectic up to postmodernism.
This
variety of styles can be distinguished in buildings
such as the De La Caridad Theatre, the House of Culture,
the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Jose Martí
Library.
This city is particularly famous because of a mausoleum
in which the remains of an important Guerrilla leader,
Ernesto Che Guevara, lie, along with sixteen of his
fellow combatants killed in 1967 during the Bolivia
campaign.
Other interest sites in
the Santa Clara region is the Loma del Capiro (Capiro’s
Hill) and the monument to the Asalto al Tren Blindado
(Assault on Armored Train), places of indubitable historic
value where decisive battles were waged against the
Batista tyranny (1952-1959).
And the attractions you should visit are:
The "De la Caridad"
Theater
The Museum of Decorative Arts
The Jose Martí Library
The Che Guevara Square
The Armored Train Monument
The Vidal Park
The City Hall Building
The Cubanacan Protected Area
Remedios:
Close to Santa Clara (49
kilometers-30.5 miles to the East) is the Remedios town,
eighth village founded by the Spanish in 1578. In this
place, declared a National Monument, there are genuine
colonial works containing relics such as the Parroquia
Mayor (built in the 16th century), the Buen Viaje church,
the House of Las Arcadas, that of the Alférez
Real and the birthplace of Alejandro García Caturla,
today the Museum of Music.
The city is famous for its Christmas festivities, called Parrandas
(Revels of the city of Remedios, one of the most colorful and
oldest popular festivities in the country), in wich two 'barrios'
(El Carmen and San Salvador) compete the whole night to show
the best fireworks.
And the attractions you should
visit are:
The Parroquia Mayor
The "Buen Viaje" Church
The Arcades
The Museum of Music “Alejandro
García Caturla”
The Revels of the city of Remedios (in
Christmas) and its Museum
Caibarien:
(about 40,000 inhabitants)
Near Remedios city is Caibarien, a maritime town and
somewhat marshy shore of a spacious bay of the northern
coast of the province.
It serves as a shipping point for agricultural goods,
such as sugarcane, tobbaco and fruit, but also serves
as a sponge-fishing center.
And the attractions you should
visit are:
Caibarien City Hall
Water Sports and Fishing Areas
Cayo Conuco
Cayo Guano
Cayo Fragoso
Cayo Francés
Sagua
La Grande:(59 000 inhabitants)
also known as Villa del Undoso, is a city located in
the northern coast of the province. It is on the Sagua
la Grande River. Founded in 1817, the coastal city grew
to be an important port and commerce center at the beginning
of the 20th century. Its economy is based on the sugar,
chemical, mechanical and food industries.Cattle
raising and fishing are other important economic activities.
Since not much has
been built in the recent decades, most of the architecture
of the now decaying buildings dates from colonial times.
One of the most beautiful buildings in this city, El Casino
Español (The Spanish Casino), built in 1908, was the
meeting place for polite society. The city's wide streets
and little traffic give it a calm atmosphere. Many important
Cuban people came from this town including Joaquin Albarran,
Wilfredo Lam, Alfredo Sosabravo, Mel Martinez and many others.
And the attractions you should
visit are:
The Casino Español
The Wilfredo Lam Birth House
The Joaquin Albarran Park
The Bridge over Sagua River
The Isabella de Sagua Harbor
Hanabanilla:
in the Escambray mountain range is the Hanabanilla resort,
with a comfortable hotel on the banks of the Hanabanilla
River. Its principal attraction is the dam of the same
name (the only mountain lake in the island), where the
tourists can practice many water sports, such as the
fishing freshwater fish or rowing across the lake. Other
tourist attractions are trekking, mountain climbing,
photo-hunting and watching the beauties of nature.
And the attractions you should visit are:
Hanabanilla Falls
Hanabanilla Lake
Río Negro resort
Baños
de Elguea:
In the northern coast of the Villa Clara province and
at 234 kilometers (146 miles approximately) east of
Havana is this Spa with medical thermal and mineral
waters, and others therapeutic treatments.
It is a popular destination for health tourism programs.
Cayo
Santa Maria: (386 kilometers-241
miles east of Havana) known as "the white rose
of the Jardines del Rey Archipelago", Santa Maria
is the last and largest of the cays.
It is linked to the main island by an ecological stone
causeway built 30 miles (48 km) into the sea, with 45
bridges so as not to adversely affect the ecosystems
and sea currents in the area. Santa Maria has a surface
area of 5 square miles (13 square km).
It has over six
and a half miles (11 km) of white sand beaches, plus a wealth
of flora and fauna which can be seen during excursions inland.
There is a scuba-diving center with 24 well-chosen diving
sites, so you can outfit yourself and see a great variety
of coral and fish in its clear water.
Cayo
Las Brujas: is a tiny
islet with fine white sand, dazzling sea and virgin
nature. It has over a mile (two kilometers) of virgin
beaches. Its single cabanas built on a cliff are linked
with one another and with the social areas by wooden
bridges, so the local animals-which are entirely harmless-can
move around freely. In this Cayo there is a large
number of endemic plants and animals. Cayo Las Brujas
have an aerodrome apt to small and medium-sized airplanes.
