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Matanzas, CubaSource: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scenes_of_Cuba_(K5_02515)_(5978544497).jpg
Author: Emmanuel Huybrechts
Matanzas is a city on the northern coast of Cuba, about 90 km (51 mi) to the east of Havana. It covers 317 sq km (122.4 sq mi) and has a population of 144,000 people (2011 estimate). It serves as the provincial capital of Matanzas Province. The city is today an industrial town and one of the four most important sugar explorting ports in the world.
The city of Matanzas is on the Bay of Matanzas. There are three main rivers that flow through Matanzas. All the three rivers empty into the bay within the city. The city has seventeen river bridges, leading to it being known as a City of Bridges.
Matanzas was founded in 1693 and was originally known as San Carlos y San Severino de Matanzas. The name Matanzas means "massacre", and points to an incident where 30 Spanish soldiers on their way to attack a native camp was tricked by the local fishermen and drowned.
Iglesia de San Pedro Apostol, a church in Matanzas, CubaSource: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iglesia_de_San_Pedro_Apostol_(5977772759).jpg
Author: Emmanuel Huybrechts
Visiting Matanzas
There are buses from Havana and Varadero to Matanzas.Sights & Attractions in Matanzas
- Ediciones Vigía
Publishing house specializing in hand-crafted books. Visitors can watch as each book is hand made. - Museo Farmacéutico de Matanzas
Formerly a pharmacy in the late 19th century, this building overlooking Parque Libertad was converted into a museum in 1964 on pharmaceuticals, with displays of small bottles of herbs and elixirs. - Museo Provincial
Museum that showcases the local artifacts from Pre-Columbian period to 1959. There are displays relating the history of slavery and sugar. - Parque Libertad
A public square that was formerly the parade ground, it is located on the site of a former Indian village. There is a statue of José Martí in the middle of the square. - Plaza de la Vigía
Town square with the statue of the unknown soldier commemorating the war of independence. - Teatro Sauto
One of the most important historical building in Matanzas, the theater was opened to the public in 1863.
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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.
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