Blog

One of the stops we suggest you not to miss during your trip to Cuba is Santa Clara, the most revolutionary city in Cuba, because Cuba is inextricably linked to the memory of Che Guevara, an Argentine doctor who became a guerrilla fighter. Right in the geographical heart of Cuba, it is a city rich in new trends and insatiable creativity, with a young and avant-garde culture. We always include a stop in Santa Clara during our beautiful organized tours because Che Guevara is now an iconic figure that we all admire.

Among the most original attractions in Santa Clara we mention a collective of artists specialized in satire and the best rock festival in the country, Ciudad Metal. Moreover, the proud character of the city has been forged over time thanks to the presence of the most prestigious university in the country after that of Havana and the long connection with the figure of Che Guevara, who liberated it in December 1958 marking the end of the Batista regime. This place has always been the epicenter of small cultural revolutions.

Miscalculating his calculations by several kilometers, Christopher Columbus believed that the ancient indigenous village of Cubanacán (or Cubana Khan, a name that in the local language meant 'the center of Cuba'), near Santa Clara, was the seat of the khans of Mongolia; this misunderstanding led the explorer to believe he had reached the coasts of Asia. Santa Clara was instead founded in 1689 by 13 families from Remedios, fleeing from the raids of passing pirates, and grew rapidly until it became, in 1867, the capital of the province of Las Villas. Having become an important industrial center, so much so as to host a Coca-Cola factory before the revolution, Santa Clara also played a significant role during the establishment of the Cuban communications network.

Final stop of many pilgrimages dedicated to Che Guevara, Santa Clara hosts a complex with monument, mausoleum and museum located 2 km west of Parque Vidal, near the Víazul bus station. For all admirers of the Argentine guerrilla fighter, for whom many hold an almost religious respect, it is difficult not to be moved in the vast square that embraces both sides of the great avenue, on which stands the bronze statue of Che (placed on a pedestal 16 m high).

Erected in 1987 for the 20th anniversary of Guevara's assassination in Bolivia, the statue is always visible to the public. At the back is the respectful mausoleum, with 38 stone niches dedicated to the other guerrilla fighters killed during the failed Bolivian revolution. In 1997 the remains of 17 guerrilla fighters, including Guevara, were exhumed from a secret mass grave in Bolivia and buried in this monument, where Fidel Castro lit the eternal flame on October 17 of the same year. The adjacent museum illustrates his life and death and displays various Che memorabilia.

You can decide to stay overnight in one of our BnB houses in Santa Clara or in the beautiful town of Remedios, one of Cuba's lesser-known colonial jewels, which completely transforms every year on Christmas Eve during the noisy celebration complete with fireworks called Las Parrandas. According to some historical sources, the town would be the second settlement founded in Cuba (1513), but officially it is only the eighth, after Santiago, and in 2015 the five-hundredth anniversary was proudly celebrated. The celebrations have transformed Remedios from a shabby stop on the road to Cayo Santa María into a mini-Trinidad, full of charming boutique hotels and small restaurants where you can eat typical and genuine cuisine. Come now, before it is too late.