| | Overview (Source: Frommers) |
553km (343 miles) E of Havana; 110km (68 miles) E of Ciego de Avila; 328km (203 miles) W of Santiago de Cuba One of Cuba's most historic and important cities, Camagüey is an excellent place to visit to get a feel for Cuba's colonial-era grandeur. Founded as the sixth of Cuba's original seven villas in 1514 -- as a port town originally named Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe -- the city was later moved to a different spot by Diego Velázquez himself in 1516 and transplanted again to its present, inland location in 1528. The town didn't receive its final name, which means "Son of the Tree" in the Taíno language, until after the conclusion of the Spanish-American War in 1898. Camagüey retains a strong colonial imprint, with a highly irregular layout and warren of narrow, bending streets and alleyways, handsome colonial houses, two of the most dignified colonial plazas in Cuba, and an unequaled collection of impressive if evocatively dilapidated 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-century churches. In fact, Camagüey is often called la ciudad del Barroco (city of baroque) or la ciudad de las iglesias (city of churches). Another symbol of the city is the tinajón , a massive terra-cotta water jug used in the 18th and 19th centuries to collect rainwater. These now largely decorative items can still be seen in the serene gardens and courtyards of the city's colonial houses. Travelers intent on experiencing the cultural offerings of urban, interior Cuba should not skip Ca
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