Local historians, urban planners and architects agree that the former town is one of those that maintains its original layout as established by colonial laws, which includes: the church, the governor’s house and the town hall, around the Plaza Mayor, today Céspedes Park.

Specialists from the Union of Historians of Cuba in this eastern city assure that the current urban historical center corresponds to the colonial city that remained until the end of the 19th century: from North to South, from Paseo Martí to Avenida 24 de Febrero (Trocha) and from East to West, from the old area of ​​the military complexes to the bay.

The historic center of the city of Santiago de Cuba can be observed almost in its entirety from the bay, as if seen from the stage of an amphitheater, because many of its streets are located in the form of terraces along the slope of a mountain furrowed from the top towards the sea.

These peculiarities make the only Hero City of Cuba, a unique place, very attached to the hearts of its people, with the ability to flatter travelers who come to admire it and are trapped between the chords of its sounds and a colonial architecture that will fulfill 510 years on July 25, 2025.

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