Cienfuegos BBC

Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especially in the energy and sugar sectors. The city is dubbed ''La Perla del Sur'' (Pearl of the South). Although ''Cienfuegos'' literally translates to "one hundred fires" (''cien'', "one hundred"; ''fuegos'', "fires"), the city takes its name from the surname of José Cienfuegos, Captain General of Cuba (1816–19).

In 2005, UNESCO inscribed the '' Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos'' on the World Heritage List, citing Cienfuegos as the best extant example of early 19th century Spanish Enlightenment implementation in urban planning. The downtown area contains six buildings from 1819–50, 327 buildings from 1851–1900, and 1188 buildings from the 20th century. There is no other place in the Caribbean which contains such a remarkable cluster of Neoclassical structures.

History

The area where the city lies was identified as ''Cacicazgo de Jagua'' by early Spanish conquistadors. It was originally settled by Taino indigenous people. ''Cacicazgo'' translates from the Taino language as "chiefdom". Cacicazgo de Jagua was therefore the chiefdom of Chief Jagua.

The city was later settled by French immigrants from Bordeaux and Louisiana led by Don Louis de Clouet on April 22, 1819. The settlers named the city ''Fernandina de Jagua'' in honor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain and Chief Jagua. The settlement successively became a town (''villa'') in 1829, renamed for José Cienfuegos, Captain General of Cuba (1816–19), and a city in 1880. Many of the streets in old town reflect French origins in their names: Bouyón, D'Clouet, Hourruitiner, Gacel, and Griffo, for instance.

Cienfuegos port, despite being one of the latest settlements established during the colonial era, soon grew to be a powerful town due to the fertile fields surrounding it and its position on the trade route between Jamaica and South American cities to the southeast and the hinterland provincial capital of Santa Clara to the northeast. Its advantageous trading location on the historically eponymous Bay of Jagua was used by the Cuban sugar oligarchy when a railroad was built between both cities between 1853 and 1860.

Near Cienfuegos was the scene of a battle during the Spanish–American War on May 11, 1898, between American Marines attempting to sever underwater Spanish communication lines and the Spanish defenders.

During the Cuban Revolution, the city saw an uprising against Fulgencio Batista and was bombed in retaliation on September 5, 1957. The city later became a key industrial center, part of the revolutionary government's "anti-urban" planning policy, with industrial projects including the never-completed Juraguá nuclear power plant, the "Camilo Cienfuegos" oil refinery named for Camilo Cienfuegos, and the "Carlos Marx" cement factory.

In 1969 and 1970, Soviet naval vessels visited the city. This appeared to be in violation of the Kennedy–Khrushchev agreements of 1962. However, there was no notice given by the United States, and no confrontation ensued.

In 2005, Hurricane Dennis made its second landfall near Cienfuegos at about 1:00PM AST (17:00 UTC) with winds of 232 km/h (144 mph) and gusts reaching 285 km/h (177 mph).

Geography

Near the entrance to Cienfuegos Bay is Castillo de Jagua (full name: ''Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Jagua''), a fortress erected in 1745 for protection against Caribbean pirates.

Cienfuegos, one of the chief seaports of Cuba, is a center of the sugar trade as well as coffee and tobacco. While sugarcane is the chief crop, local farmers also grow coffee.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cienfuegos has a tropical savanna climate, abbreviated "Aw" on climate maps.

Demographics

In 2004, the municipality of Cienfuegos had a population of 163,824. With a total area of , it has a population density of .

Sports

Cienfuegos fields a team in the Cuban National Series, the Cienfuegos Elefantes. Since joining the league in 1977–78, the best finish the ''Camaroneros'' have achieved is a 3rd place showing in the 2010–11 Cuban National Series. Despite finishing with the best record at 59–31, the Elefantes lost the semifinals in six games to the eventual champions, the Pinar del Río ''Vegueros''.

Attractions

* Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Jagua – fortress
*Arco de Triunfo – the only Arco de Triunfo in Cuba
*Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción – cathedral with stained glass work, built 1833–1869
*Delfinario – dolphins and sea lions in a saltwater lagoon
* Jardín Botánico de Cienfuegos – 97 hectares of botanic garden
*Museo Provincial – furniture and porcelain museum
* Palacio de Valle – built 1913–1917 in neo-gothic style
*Palmira Yorubá Pantheon – museum of religious afro-catholic syncretism
*Parque José Martí – park in Plaza de Armas
*Teatro Tomás Terry – colonial style theater
* Palacio Ferrer
*Malecón de Cienfuegos
*Paseo del Prado – longest street in Cuba, full of colorful buildings
*Quintero (cigar) cigar factory
* University of Cienfuegos "Carlos Rafael Rodríguez" (UCF) – the province's high education institution
*Rancho Luna Beach
*Nicho
*Laguna del Cura - an authentic fishing boat lagoon.

Transportation

The city is served by Jaime González Airport, which, as of 2021, partly because of the Covid-19 outbreak, had no scheduled airline flights.

Notable people

* José Abreu, MLB player for the Chicago White Sox
* María Conchita Alonso, Cuban-Venezuelan-American singer; born here
* Yordany Álvarez, MLS player for Real Salt Lake
* Joe Azcue, MLB player for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, California Angels, and Milwaukee Brewers
* Luis Posada Carriles, Cuban anti-Castro activist believed to be responsible for the Cubana Flight 455 bombing; born here
* Yoán Moncada, MLB player for the Chicago White Sox
* Benny Moré, Cuban singer
* Olance Nogueras Rofes, Cuban journalist
* Gina Pellón, Cuban painter; lives in exile in Paris
* Yasiel Puig, MLB player for the Cleveland Indians; born here
* Robeisy Ramirez, professional boxer and two-time Olympic Gold medalist
* Osmel Sousa, Cuban-Venezuelan entrepreneur and former president of the Miss Venezuela Organization.
* José Tartabull, MLB player for the Boston Red Sox
* Cristóbal Torriente, Cuban-born Hall of Fame baseball player

Sister cities

Cienfuegos has the following sister cities:
* Tacoma, Washington, United States
* Etzatlán, Mexicohttp://www.sre.gob.mx/coordinacionpolitica/images/stories/documentos_gobiernos/rai/jal/jal40.pdf
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* Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
* Kingston, Ontario, Canada (2005)
* Bahía Blanca, Argentina
* Saint-Nazaire, France
* Contagem, Brazil

Gallery

File:CienfuegosCatedral.JPG, Cathedral of Cienfuegos and Medici Lions
File:Jagua 5839.JPG, Fortress of Jagua
File:RoutedeCienfuegos.JPG, The Promenade of Cienfuegos
File:Cienfuegos (Hotel La Unión and Old Tram).jpg, The central Calle D'Clouet with the "Hotel La Unión" (left) and the railtrack remains of the former urban tramway
File:Teatro-Tomas-Terry.jpg, Teatro Tomás Terry in Cienfuegos

See also

* Historic Centre of Cienfuegos
* List of cities in Cuba

References

Bibliography

External links

*

Cienfuegos City Council

Guide of Cienfuegos

Photo collections with most of the city's landmarks
on Flickr

{{Authority control

Cities in Cuba
Populated places in Cienfuegos Province
Port cities and towns in Cuba
World Heritage Sites in Cuba
Populated places established in 1819
1819 establishments in New Spain
1810s establishments in the Spanish West Indies