Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n province of

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ; ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas Province, Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-American religions, Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Mat ...

. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of

, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east of the capital

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Varadero. Matanzas is called the ''City of Bridges'', for the seventeen bridges that cross the three rivers that traverse the city (Rio Yumuri, San Juan, and Canimar). For this reason it was referred to as the "Venice of Cuba." It was also called "La Atenas de Cuba" ("The Athens of Cuba") for its poets. Matanzas is known as the birthplace of the music and dance traditions

danzón Danzón is the official genre and dance of Cuba.Urfé, Odilio 1965. ''El danzón''. La Habana. It is also an active musical form in USA and Puerto Rico. Written in time, the danzón is a slow, formal partner dance, requiring set footwork ...

and rumba.

History

Matanzas was founded on October 12, 1693, as ''San Carlos y San Severino de Matanzas''. This followed a royal decree ("'' real cédula''") issued on September 25, 1690, which decreed that the bay and port of Matanzas be settled by 30 families from the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

. Matanzas was one of the regions that saw intensive development of sugar plantations during the colonial era. Consequently, many African slaves were imported to support the sugar industry, particularly during the first half of the nineteenth century. For example, in 1792 there were 1900 slaves in Matanzas, roughly 30% of its population. In 1817, the slave population of Matanzas had grown to 10,773, comprising nearly 50% of the overall population. By 1841, 53,331 slaves made up 62.7% of the population of Matanzas.Bergad, Laird W. ''Cuban Rural Society in the Nineteenth Century: The Social and Economic History of Monoculture in Matanzas''. Princeton University Press, 1990. Census figures for 1859 put the Matanzas slave population at 104,519. Matanzas was the site of several slave insurrections and plots, including the infamous ''Escalera'' conspiracy_{( es)} (discovered in late 1843, see also Year of the Lash). Due to the high number of both slaves and, importantly, free Afro-Cubans in Matanzas, the retention of African traditions is especially strong there. In 1898, Matanzas became the location of the first action in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

. The city was bombarded by American Navy vessels on 25 April 1898, just after the beginning of the war.

Name origin

The name Matanzas means "

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

" and refers to a putative slaughter in 1510 at the port of the same name, in which 30 Spanish soldiers tried to cross one of the rivers to attack an aboriginal camp on the far shore. The Spanish soldiers had no boats, so they enlisted the help of native fishermen. However, once they reached the middle of the river, the fishermen flipped the boats, and due to the Spanish soldiers' heavy metal armor, most of them drowned. Only two women—one said to be the beautiful María de Estrada—survived, the result of being taken by a

Cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

. De Estrada is said to have later escaped the "power of the Cacique" and married Pedro Sánchez Farfán in the city of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

. According to municipal historian Arnaldo Jimenez de la Cal, " was the first act of rebellion of natives in Cuba."

Geography

The city is located on the north shore of the island of Cuba, on all three sides of the Bay of Matanzas. The bay cuts deep in the island, and three rivers flow in the bay inside city limits (Rio Yumuri, San Juan, and Canimar). To the south-east, the landscape rises into a hill called ''Pan de Matanzas'', divided from the Atlantic coast by the Yumuri Valley and a coastal ridge. The city of Matanzas is divided into four neighborhoods: Versalles, Matanzas, Playa and Pueblo Nuevo. The municipality is divided into the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

s of Bachicha, Bailén, Barracones, Bellamar, Camarioca, Cárcel, Ceiba Mocha, Colón, Corral Nuevo, Guanábana, Ojo de Agua, Refugio, San Luis, San Severino, Simpson y Monserrate, Versalles and Yumurí.

Demographics

In 2022, the municipality of Matanzas had a population of 163,631. With a total area of , it has a population density of .

Transportation

Air

Matanzas is served by Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport, 15 km east of the city.

Rail

The city has two railway stations. The main station is on the main line from

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

. The electrified Hershey train operates by a different route to Havana from a separate station in the barrio of Versalles.

Buses

Matanzas is also served by Viazul and Astro buses.

Tramway

After two failed attempts Matanzas had a tramway in 1916 (initially as Ferrocarril Eléctrico de Matanzas, then as city owned Compañía de Servicios Públicos de Matanzas in 1918 and Compañía de Tranvías de Matanzas in 1926). In 1952 it acquired tramcars from Havana Electric Railway, but converted with buses by new owners Omnibus Urbanos SA in 1954.

Roads

The Via Blanca highway connects the city with both Havana in the west and Varadero in the east.

Education

The University of Matanzas is the province's high learning education institution.

Attractions

* Pharmaceutical Museum - established in 1882 * Museo Historico Provincial de Matanzas - Provincial History Museum * El Consejo Provincial de Artes Visuales at the Galería Pedro Esquerré, shows exhibitions of contemporary art. * Sauto Theater - ''Teatro Sauto'' - Opened in 1863, the theatre hosts plays, opera, ballet, and symphonic concerts. It is a National Monument of Cuba. * Catedral San Carlos De Borromeo * Nearby Bellamar

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s, also a National Monument of Cuba. * Boating on the Canimar River * Matanzas bridges * Casino Español - Now being restored (May 2008). * Matanzas High School (Palm Coast) * Necropolis de San Carlos Borromeo * Quinta de Bellamar, heritage house and church

Monuments

The Aqueduct of Matanzas, today a national monument, was built in 1870 and is still providing the city with water from the spring Manantial de Bello. An ingenious construction built 1912 exploited and till 1912 by Fernando Heydrich and Company.

Notable people

* Eufemio Abreu - Negro league baseball player * Bernardo Benes - exiled Cuban born lawyer, banker and civic leader in Miami * Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons -

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African a ...

Artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

-photography, performance, audiovisual media, and sculpture, born in Matanzas in 1959 * José Cardenal - Former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player * Leo Cárdenas - Former Major League Baseball player and 5-time

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

was born in Matanzas in 1938 * Rafael Cruz - Born in Matanzas in 1939; Evangelistic preacher and father of U.S. Senator

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

* Guillermo Heredia - Major League Baseball player * Felipe de Jesús Estévez - Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Augustine * William R. King - 13th

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

, was sworn into office near Matanzas in 1853 * Carlos Lamar - Olympic fencer was born in Matanzas in 1908 * Héctor Lombard -

Mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

, born in Matanzas in 1978 * Sonora Matancera - is a Cuban/Afro-Cuban band * Joseph Marion Hernández (1788 – 1857), Floridano who served as the first delegate from the Florida Territory. He was also the first Hispanic American to serve in the United States Congress and a member of the Whig Party (1822 – 1823) * Richard Maurice - Film director and union organizer, born in Matanzas in 1893 * Monguito - was a Cuban vocalist, bandleader, producer and composer * Los Muñequitos de Matanzas - rumba ensemble * Nestor Pérez - former professional baseball player and the current manager of the Florida Complex League Braves * Israel Pickens - third governor of the US state of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, died in Matanzas in 1827 * Pérez Prado -

Mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

bandleader and composer was born in Matanzas. * Rafael Soriano - painter who was part of the third generation of Vanguard Artists * Javier Sotomayor - High Jump current World Record Holder, 8'1/2" in 1993, and Olympic Champion, Barcelona, Spain, 1992. * Anne Kingsbury Wollstonecraft - botanist, naturalist, botanical illustrator, and women's rights advocate, lived in Matanzas in the 1820s. * Joseph White - Franco-Afro-Cuban violin virtuoso was born in Matanzas on New Year's Eve 1835 (He died in Paris in 1918)

References

External links

Ciudad de Matanzas
—A website with much information in Spanish about the city of Matanzas, from its foundation to the present day

��City of Matanzas
Portal de la Ciencia en Matanzas
{{Authority control 1690s establishments in the Caribbean 1690s in Cuba 1690s establishments in the Spanish West Indies 1693 establishments in the Spanish Empire 17th-century establishments in Cuba Cities in Cuba Populated places established in 1693 Populated places in Matanzas Province