Our second port in Cuba was La Perla del Sur or the Pearl of the South, Cienfuegos. Cienfuegos has a population of about 150,000 and is located in south central Cuba. It was originally settled by Taino Indigenous people. It was later settled by French immigrants in April of 1819 and was named Fernandina de Jagua in honor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain and Chief Jagua who was the chief of the Taino people. It became a town in 1829 and was re-named after Jose Cienfuegos that was a Captain-General of Cuba from 1816-1819. Cienfuegos became a city in 1880. It still retains much of its French influence, which was especially apparent in many of their street names. Some examples are Bouyón, D'Clouet and Hourruitiner. The writing on the Arch of Triumph above means "The Workers of Cienfuegos to the Cuban Republic". It a built in honor of Cuba's independence from Spain. Cienfuegos became a very powerful and important city. This was due to the land around the city being very fertile for farming and the ports strategic location on the trade routes to both Caribbean Islands and South America. A railroad was constructed between Cienfuegos and Santa Clara to the Northeast in the 1850's. It was used to move sugar cane to Cienfuegos which was then shipped out through the port. During the Cuban Revolution there was an uprising against Bautista in Cienfuegos. In retaliation Bautista ordered the city to be bombed on September 5, 1957. Teatro Tomas Terry Our tour of Cienfuegos centered around Jose Marti Plaza which was named by UNESCO as a model of 19th century urban planning in Cuba and the Caribbean. We went in to the Teatro Tomas Terry or Tomas Terry Theater which was being renovated as you can see from the image above. Tomas Terry was a wealthy Venezuelan businessman. He was the first person to have electricity installed into his Cuban sugar factory. At the time of his death in 1886 his worth exceeded 25 million dollars. Terry had wanted to build a theater venue in Cienfuegos but was not allowed by the Spanish government in Cuba. After his death his heirs were able to have the theater built and named it after him. The theater opened in 1890. Decorated with Carrara marble, hand-carved Cuban hardwoods and ceiling frescoes the theater shows French and Italian influence. The upper facade has three gold leafed mosaics representing tragedy, comedy and music. Both Enrico Caruso and Sara Bernhardt performed in the theater. Due to the renovation my images of the inside were very limited. An image of the theater showing the upper facade and the mosaics After visiting the theater we went into the Jose Marti Park. The park is located in what used to be the cities main square. In the center of the park is a statue of Jose Marti. He is a national hero to the people of Cuba and a was very important in Latin American literature. He was also very politically active. He became a symbol of Cuba's desire for independence through his writings and political activity. The statue of Jose Marti Images from in the park There are many beautiful and uniquely designed buildings surrounding Jose Marti Park as shown above. We hung out in the park for a bit while our guide was going over various historical facts about the park. We were going to visit a local graphic arts studio next. We walked down a block or 2 and met our bus. It was a relatively short drive to the studio. The streets just off of Jose Marti Square The owner of the Graphic Arts studio through an interpreter told us about his business. He like all Cuban citizens have a government salary albeit a very low wage by our standards. Any piece or art that is sold from his studio he must pay a 10% tax to the Cuban Government. We found this to be the rule for all Cuban citizens that had private jobs or businesses. We were also told that there was a government representative at the studio all the time to keep a close watch on sales. Our local guide for this day tour was subject to the same 10% tax on any tips she receives from tourists. The image above to the left was a group of young people with autism. The studio sponsors them and the art work they do seems to be very therapeutic for them and helps their self worth. We re-boarded our bus and were off to hear a musical group of young women. They all played the flute and were all very talented. They have toured not just all over Cuba but also to other parts of Latin America. After they finished their performance we headed back to Jose Marti Park. We were given some free time to shop and look around the area. As we were walking around we came up to what appeared to be a statue but to our surprise it wasn't. A very clever street performer We proceeded to walk down several blocks with street vendors towards the water where we would eventually meet up with our bus. Just strolling along through the street vendors As we made it down to the water we got a great view of our ship docked not very far away. The Oceania Sirena docked in Cienfuegos Our group showed up and we boarded our bus for a short ride back to the port. Back at the port we went through a security check point and made our way back to our ship. We had a very nice time in Cienfuegos. It was a much slower pace and a lot less crowded than Havana was but that really wasn't much of a surprise. We found the people to be very friendly as they were in Havana. Tomorrow we are at Santiago de Cuba which will be our final port of call in Cuba.
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