Page 202 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

200  CUBA REGION B Y REGION

The Cockerel of Morón
“Be careful not to end up like the cockerel of Morón, which lost
its feathers as well as its crest.” This Spanish saying dates back
to the 1500s, when the governor of the Andalusian village of
Morón de la Frontera, who lorded it over the local farmers and
was known as “cockerel” (gallo) for his arrogance and presump-
tuousness, was punished with a good thrashing and thrown out
of town by the angry citizens. The event became well known and
to commemorate it, a statue of a plucked rooster was set up in
the main avenue. When a community of Andalusians emigrated
to Cuba in the 18th century and founded a city they called Morón,
to maintain their
traditions they put a
statue of the rooster
at the entrance to
the town. It was
Parque Martí in Ciego de Ávila, taken down in 1959,
with a monument to José Martí and replaced in
6 Ciego de Ávila 1981 by a bronze
sculpture placed
Road Map D3. * 145,000. k £ next to a tower.
@ n Infotur, Calle Honorato del At 6am and 6pm
Castillo, esq. Libertad, (33) 209 109. daily, a recording
of a cock crowing The bronze statue (1981) of the legendary cockerel
When Ciego de Ávila was is played here. of Morón
founded in 1538 by the
conquistador Jácome de
Ávila, it was just a large farm The multi-ethnic character 7 Morón
in the middle of a wood, of the city means that visitors Ciego de Ávila. Road Map D3.
a ciego. It only became a can enjoy both the rural * 67,000. @ n Cubanacán, Hotel
bona fide city in 1840. festivals of Spanish origin Morón, Avda de Tarafa, (33) 504 720.
Today, it is a rural town (parrandas), similar to those _ Cockerel of Morón: end of June.
with two-storey houses in Remedios (see p181),
fronted with Neo- and merengue and Morón lies on the road that
Classical columns, and congo dance shows, runs north from Ciego de Ávila
streets filled with one- especially in the (a town with a long-standing
horse carriages. quarter where Jamaican rivalry with Morón). The road
The few visitors and Haitian immigrants is known for its occupation in
who come here live. Ciego de Ávila 1896 by nationalist rebels
are mostly on their also has a cycling (mambises) after they had
way to the cayos One of La Trocha’s school which is managed to breach the
in the Jardines del redoubts attended by children Spanish defence.
Rey archipelago. from all over the Morón was founded as a
Anyone who does stop off island. At Epiphany the town villa in 1869 and retains a small,
should visit the Teatro Principal is the starting point for the well-preserved colonial centre.
(1927) and the Museo Histórico month-long Vuelta, a Cuban The Museo Municipal has more
Provincial. This last has four cycle race much like the Tour than 600 archaeological finds,
rooms of documents and de France. brought to light in the 1940s
photographs concerning the
history of the province, in
particular the story of La Trocha.
This line of defence was
constructed in the 19th century.
It was devised by the Spanish to
block the advance of the Cuban
nationalists (mambises) by
cutting the island in half, from
Morón, north of Ciego de Ávila,
to Júcaro, on the Caribbean
coast. Some surviving La Trocha
towers, built about 1 km (half
a mile) from one another, lie a
short distance outside town
and are open to the public. A street in Morón with pastel-coloured houses and arcades
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp261–2 and pp274–5

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