Santa Clara
Cuba · Americas
About Santa Clara
Santa Clara is the capital city of the Cuban province of Villa Clara. It is centrally located in the province and Cuba. Santa Clara is the fifth-most populous Cuban city, with a population of nearly 245,959.
Santa Clara was founded by 175 people on 15 July 1689. 138 of them represented two large families already living in the area, who owned land next to the new city. The other 37 came from seven other families and included a priest and governor, all originating in the coastal city of San Juan de los Remedios.
The population of Remedios had to choose between leaving their city, constantly being besieged by pirates, or staying. While most decided to stay, 37 people traveled south to the interior. On 1 June 1689, they arrived at a hill, joining two other families already present at the site. According to tradition, a mass was celebrated under a tamarind tree and Santa Clara was founded. Since then, the place under the tree has been known as Loma del Carmen (transl. Carmen's hill). A second-generation church was built in a park along the plaza. A monument commemorating the event is surrounded by a fourth-generation tamarind tree.
The settlement was originally called Cayo...
Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.