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General Introduction to Baracoa, Cuba

The city ofBaracoa is located on the north-east of Guantánamo province, between the baies of Baracoa and Miel. The name of the location comes etimologically from an aborigenous word meaning "presence of the sea". There are other locations in Cuba called "Baracoa", for example a small town near Havana and it's not by chance that all these places are near the sea. Anyway, this city is so called in direct reference to its original inhabitants and to an omnipresent marine presence, an ambience that nicely contrast with mountains and fluvial rinning. Baracoa is also called Landscape City, City of Rains, City of Mountains, City of Waters, Capital of Wood, Coconut and Cocoa. Its nature, tangled by mountainous massifs, is adorned with virgin forestrys, with crystalline rivers and beaches. Baracoa has definitively a distinctive mark if compared with the rest of Cuba.

Baracoa has been the first city founded by the Spanish conquerors and there are people claiming that it represents, at the same time, both the beginning (for its descovery) and the end (for its geographical position) of Cuba. Baracoa is delicious in terms of nature, it's placed within one of the most beautiful landscapes of Cuba.

With the name Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa, Baracoa was founded between 1511 and 1512 by Diego Velázquez and it was the first capital of Cuba. Along with strong historical roots characterizing the city, Baracoa has as another distinctive feature, the sociable character of its inhabitants, the beauties of a city surrounded by mountains, rivers, the sea and a lush vegetation.

The access itself to the city constitutes an adventurous venture, since that it must be realized through a road (La Farola) that is very unique, because it winds its way around the mountains and crosses over eleven bridges, where the most relevant point is the area of Altos de Cotilla, over 600 meters above the sea level.

Those who visit Baracoa find themselves in an environment loaded with memories from the colonial times, including the famous Cruz de la Parra, a cross constructed by Spaniards during the first trip to America, made up of precious woods of the place.

Considered by many people as one of the most attractive cities of Cuba, Baracoa is constantly waiting for the arrival of those for whom the history and traditions of a country constitute the main course of an excursion.