Baracoa is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province in extreme eastern Cuba. It was founded by the first governor of Cuba, the Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar in 1511, which makes it not only the oldest Spanish settlement in Cuba but also its first capital (and gives it the nickname Ciudad Primada, "First City"). It is located on the spot where Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba on his first voyage. It is thought that the name stems from the indigenous Arauaca language word meaning "the presence of the sea." Baracoa lies on the Bay of Honey (Bahía de Miel) and is surrounded by a wide mountain range (including the Sierra del Purial), which causes it to be quite isolated, apart from a single mountain road built in the 1960s. History The original inhabitants of the island were Taíno. They were eradicated by the Spanish all over Cuba except here and this is the only place where desc

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z # TAGS