City of One Hundred Fires Cienfuegos

Cuba's French Roots

Cienfuegos is located on the south coast of Cuba, only a few hours drive from Havana.  The name of the city translates literally to one hundred fires, and I think most foreigners at hearing this would think some great traumatic event must have occurred for the city to garner this name.  However, the city was named for a Frenchman of the same Surname.  This French heritage is what makes Cienfuegos so unique in Cuba.  It was the only city founded by the French, the influence of which can be seen all over the city.

I stand in the main square of Cienfuegos, surrounded by French architecture and a statue of the ever present Jose Marti.

Cienfuegos is located on a large bay with a narrow mouth, and thus was an especially popular spot for pirate ships to harbor.  Pirates shaped much of Cuba’s history, and even one of the national beers, Bucanero, is named after the feisty seagoers.  This is also the beer that is thought to be the more manly of the two, with Cristal being thought the more lady-like cervesa, back to Cienfuegos.  The first structure of Cienfuegos was a fort (Castillo de Jagua) located at the mouth of the bay that was built in 1742 to keep the pesky pirates out.  With effective fortifications in place, it was only reasonable to build a city in the already protected embayment.

A farmer's market in Cienfuegos.  The building is owned by the government, but farmers can sell their fare to anyone now, to just the government anymore.  The ability to seek direct to consumers have upped the standard of living of farmers as they can now make more money.

We only had a morning in Cienfuegos to explore the city, but it was long enough to note the French influence and learn more about the everyday lives of Cubans.  Our tour started with a stroll around the city to see a state run farmer’s market, bakery, and ration store.  The ration store had very little variety with shelf upon shelf of the same exact product for extremely cheap prices. 

This government building in Cienfuegos is classic French architecture.

Every square in Cuba needs a church, and this church was built by Chinese migrants.

We ended our stroll at the main square of Cienfuegos surrounded by government buildings in French architectural domes.  A local secondary school, government offices, church, and theater all bordered the square, in the center of which was another statue to the Cuban revolutionary hero Jose Marti.  But the theater was our next destination.

A ration store in Cienfuegos.  There are many shelves of the exact same item.

The Tomas Terry Theater was built by an Italian family in the late 1880’s, and it is still used today in its original form, including a lack of air-conditioning and creaky narrow wooden benches.  It was authentic if any building in Cuba was.  Within the theater we listened to a professional Cuban choir that serenaded the audience with Cuban and Caribbean popular music accapela, after which followed a short question and answer session.  Apparently the choir had travelled to many music festivals abroad and many were music teachers at the university. 

Inside the authentic un-airconditiioned Tomas Terry Theater.

We followed the performance at the Thomas Terry Theater with a trip to the Punta Gorda neighborhood of Cienfuegos.  The Punta Gorda neighborhood is known for its classic and massive French buildings, many of which are bed and baths.  Although the massive yacht club still stands, now the only boats that harbor there are crew boats.  One of the more interesting structures that caught my eye was a once casino in the Moorish style of Alhambra in Granada. 

This Cuban choir sang classic Cuban and Caribbean music before answering our questions.

This mini Alhambra was suppose to be a casino, that is before the Triumph of the Revolution.

Punta Gorda also offers views across the bay of the area’s Soviet history and current industry.  A partially built nuclear power plant can be seen off in the distance.  It was abandoned after the Soviet Union, who was providing the monetary and instructional support for the plant, collapsed and the Chernobyl accident using the same technology occurred.  Now it stands as a ruin and ever-present reminder of what could have been.  If the plant had been successfully completed, it would have provided 15% of the island’s power.  As it stands, construction did not even advance so far for nuclear materials to be needed, which never arrived. 

The old yacht club of Cienfuegos.  The only boats that go out of this club now are human powered.

David poses with the nuclear peer plant off in the distance that was never completed.

Cuba’s response to the needed power can also be seen across the bay in Cienfuegos, although in a different location.  An oil refinery that is the largest single employer in Cienfuegos is apparent from smoke stacks and large warehouse type buildings on the coast.  Cuba gets cheap oil from South American countries like Venezuela, because it educates doctors from those countries for free and sends Cuban doctors to those countries to render services.  As the saying goes Cuba exports three things: cigars, rum, and doctors.  The refinery pollutes the bay to the point that it is unadvisable to swim in the water.  Locals travel the beach ten miles away outside of the bay to swim.

This oil refinery is the main source of employment of the people of Cienfuegos.

Another ration store, this one sells goods instead of food.

The main shopping avenue of Cienfuegos is pedestrianized.  Locals' and tourist shops stand side by side.

Our last stop on our short tour of Cienfuegos was a stroll down the pedestrianized street, where both tourist shops and local government run goods stores can be found.  We walked into one once Sears that now sold fabric, soap, and shirts to Cubans supplied by the government. 

This once Sears is now a ration store.

Cienfuegos was the smallest of the cities we visited, and probably the least memorable.  That is not to say Cienfuegos was not a worthy stop; it just paled in the shadow of bustling Havana.