Page 34 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

32 ❯❯ Top 10 Cuba Highlights

Baracoa

Tucked inside a broad bay enfolded by mountains, Baracoa sits
at the far northeast corner of Cuba. It was founded in 1511 as the
island’s first settlement and capital. When governor Velázquez
moved to Santiago, a long period of isolation set in. Locals claim
that the Bahía de Miel was the site of Columbus’ first landing in
Cuba in 1492, and that the flat-topped mountain he described is
El Yunque, which rises behind Baracoa. Lined
with wooden houses in local style, the town
now buzzes with tourists, and is particularly
popular with independent travelers.

Plaza
Independencia 3
This small plaza (right)
has a bust of the heroic
Indian leader Hatüey in
front of the Catedral de
Nuestra Señora de la
Asunción, where you can
see a wooden cross said
to have been brought to
Cuba by Columbus.
Museo
Fuerte
1 4
Matachín
Arqueológico
Guarding the eastern Full of fascinating drip-
entrance to town, this stone formations, the
tiny fortress contains a Cueva de Paraíso hosts
museum that traces the an archaeological mu -
history of Baracoa and a seum with Taíno Indian
collection of polymitas – artifacts and a funerary
colored snails (above) cave displaying skeletons.
Regional
particular to the region. Hotel El 6
Cuisine
Castillo
Bahía de
2 5 Baracoa is known for its
Baracoa
Built to repel the British, cuisine based on creative
This flask-shaped bay the Castillo de Seboruco uses of coconut, such as
(below) to the west of fortress now houses a the cucurucho, a coconut
town is lined by a gray- hotel (see p129) with dessert mixed with fruits
sand beach, backed by sensational views. and honey.
thickly forested Alturas
de Baracoa mountains. 3
AVE DE LOS MALECÓN
MÁRTIRES
Atlantic
Ocean
2 1
JOSÉ MAR TÍ
CALIXTO GARCÍA
ANTONIO MAC EO
7 6 miles CÉSPEDES
0 4 miles MALECÓN
FLOR CROMBET
5 CALIXTO GARCÍA RODNEY COUTIN
ABEL DÍAZ
JOSÉ MARTÍ
4 MONCADA
25 miles 8
032-033_Top_10_Cuba.indd 32 27/06/2016 16:13