Granma

Unveiling the Rich History and Breathtaking Natural Beauty of Eastern Cuba

Exploring Granma

Granma is a province located in the eastern region of the island of Cuba.

Fertile land, full of history. It is the cradle of the Father of the Fatherland and of the Cuban Nationality, initiator of the libertarian gestation of 1868 and scene of the facts gestated by the generation of the centenary.

It arose from the 1976 political-administrative division. The diocese of the Catholic Church that corresponds to the territory of the province is called the Diocese of Santísimo Salvador de Bayamo-Manzanillo.

Its capital, Bayamo, is considered the Cradle of Cuban Nationality. The city of Manzanillo (132,000 inhabitants) is the main industrial city. The province includes 11 other municipalities. It is considered the fifth most densely populated province in the country.

The physical face of Granma is characterized by the harmonious contrast between the plain and the mountain. Within its boundaries are enclosed many of the highest peaks in Cuban territory, along with the immeasurable vastness of the Cauto plain, one of the most extensive and uniform in the country.

If you are one of those who thinks that there is always something to discover, to see, to learn, nothing better than Granma, the surprise of the inland, with beautiful landscapes of cities and places, where history emerges in the streets, in every bend of the road, of simple and open people like few others.

There are many things for which to come to Granma: clean air, rivers, the charm of a typical and jealously preserved fauna, the marked history where Cuba was forged, the hospitality and simplicity of its people and all the shades of green and blue, which make this province a unique and unforgettable place.

Manzanillo, second city in importance and main port of the province, is recognized by its beautiful roundabout of oriental airs in its central park and by varied places of historical and cultural interest, like the ruins of the mill La Demajagua, today historical museum and the house of Manuel Navarro Luna, become Center of Literary Promotion.

If you are a lover of traditions and customs, or are encouraged by the idea of inaugurating the night by dancing to the rhythm of an organ, of son or enjoying the performance of the municipal toilet, then the option is Manzanillo, the bride of Guacanayabo.

History

Granma is synonymous with history. Even in its very name -a word pregnant with history like no other- the province gathers its first essence.

It takes its name in honor of the Las Coloradas beach landing of the Granma yacht, used by Fidel Castro, his brother Raúl Castro, Che Guevara and 79 other expeditionaries to disembark in Cuba and start the Sierra Maestra guerrilla that would lead to the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

Bayamo, the capital of Granma, seduces with the grace and dynamism of a provincial city. But the greatest pride of its inhabitants is history, one of the most relevant and loved by their compatriots. San Salvador de Bayamo was the second village founded by Diego Velázquez in 1513.

It was the capital of the First Republic in Arms, the native land of the Father of the Fatherland Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, where in the heat of the libertarian struggles the National Anthem was created and sung for the first time.

Bayamo was the cradle of the National Anthem and the city whose stoic settlers preferred to burn rather than hand over to the enemy.

Due to its history, its traditions and rich culture, its city attractions, where buildings and monuments from the colonial past are still standing, Bayamo invites the visitor to get to know it and there is no way to resist.

Main Sights

  • Rio Cauto
  • Sierra Maestra
  • Guama
  • Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma
  • Parque Nacional Turquino
  • Marea del Portillo
  • Niquero
  • Las Coloradas
  • Pilon
  • Yara
  • Media Luna
  • La Demajagua
  • Guisa
  • Jiguani
  • Bartolome Maso
  • Cabo Cruz
  • Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra
  • Buey Arriba

Bayamo

Is a town, capital of the municipality of the same name and of the province of Granma in Cuba.

The name Bayamo has two possible origins. A trend links it to the name of the Cacique who led the area. The other links the origin of the name to the presence of Bayamo, a tree of wisdom, leafy and with good shade.

The national anthem of Cuba was written in that city and makes a direct allusion to its inhabitants specifically in the fragment “Al combate, corred, bayameses…”.

Looking for the Turquino National Park

In the middle of the mountains, you can live unforgettable days in contact with nature and the good people of the Cuban countryside.

In the heart of the Sierra Maestra, as a sort of antechamber to reach the site where the Comandancia de la Plata was located, the Villa Turística de Santo Domingo rises, at 1,600 feet above sea level.

During the stay in the Villa you can enjoy rides on mules or horses and trails that lead to various historical sites of extraordinary natural beauty.

Manzanillo

City in eastern Cuba, in the current Province of Granma. It is one of the thirteen municipalities that make up the province and the most important at the industrial level.

The events that gave rise to the first monument of Cuban literature, the epic poem Espejo de Paciencia written by Silvestre de Balboa in 1604, take place on its beaches, while on October 10, 1868, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y del Castillo, considered the Father of the Fatherland, proclaims, in his Demajagua sugar mill, just 8 kilometers from the city, Cuba’s independence. Thus begins the armed forge of the Cuban nation.

Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma

The Desembarco del Granma National Park is an ecological area of the flora and fauna of the municipality of Niquero, Cuba. It is located in the southeast of Granma Province.

The Park takes its name from the yacht Granma on which Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raul Castro, and 79 of their supporters sailed from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 and incited the Cuban Revolution, who landed on these shores on December 2, 1956.

It was declared and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on December 1, 1999 during the XXIII Meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee held in Morocco. It has the great honor of being the first natural site in Cuba to receive such a distinction.

Together with the Maisi system, also in the east of the country, it constitutes the largest and most well preserved world exponent of marine terrace systems (emerged and submerged) on calcareous rocks. It is considered one of the most remarkable places in the Cuban archipelago, both for its natural values and for having been the scene of important events in our historical and cultural life.