List of World Heritage Sites in Cuba

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Location of World Heritage Sites within Cuba [1]

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. [2] The Caribbean island-nation of Cuba accepted the convention on March 24, 1981, making its historical sites eligible for inclusion on the list; as of 2011, nine sites in Cuba are included. [1]

Contents

Cuba had its first site included on the list at the 6th Session of World Heritage Committee, held at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, in December 1982. At that session, "Old Havana and its Fortifications", a site including the central, historic portion of the Cuban capital of Havana, as well as Spanish colonial fortifications, was inscribed on the list. [3]

Cuba's inclusions on the list include a variety of sites. Two sites are selected for their natural significance: Alejandro de Humboldt National Park in the eastern provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo, [4] and Desembarco del Granma National Park, named for the yacht which carried the members of the 26th of July Movement who started the Cuban Revolution. [5] City landscapes include Old Havana, [6] Trinidad, [7] and Camagüey, [8] all founded by early Spanish colonists in the 16th century. The sites also include historical agricultural regions, including the coffee plantations of southeastern Cuba, [9] and the tobacco region of Viñales Valley. [10]

World Heritage Sites

UNESCO lists sites under ten criteria; each entry must meet at least one of the criteria. Criteria i through vi are cultural, and vii through x are natural. [11]

World Heritage Sites
SiteImageLocation (province)Year listedUNESCO dataDescription
Old Havana and its Fortifications La Havane-Cathedrale (4).jpg La Habana 1982204; iv, v (cultural)Havana was founded in 1519 by Spanish colonists, growing to become one of the Caribbean's primary shipbuilding centers by the 17th century. The old city was built in the Baroque and Neoclassical styles. Historical landmarks in Old Havana include La Cabaña, the Cathedral of Havana and the Great Theatre of Havana. [6]
Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios Trinidad (Kuba) 02.jpg Sancti Spíritus 1988460; iv, v (cultural)The city of Trinidad was founded in the early 16th century. In 1518, Hernán Cortés began his expedition to conquer Mexico from the port at Trinidad. The city prospered throughout the colonial period in large part due to the success of the local sugar industry. The adjacent Valley de los Ingenios was the origin of the Cuban sugar industry, which emerged in the 18th century. It is home to numerous cane sugar mills, as well as cattle ranches and tobacco plantations. [7] [12]
San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Santiago de Cuba Castillo del Morro by Glogg 4.jpg Santiago de Cuba 1997841; iv; v (cultural)The large fort was built to defend the important port of Santiago de Cuba. The design of the fortification was based on Italian and Renaissance architecture. The complex of magazines, bastions, and batteries is one of the most complete and well-preserved Spanish-American defense fortifications. [13]
Desembarco del Granma National Park Costa tipica del Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma.jpg Granma 1999889; vii, viii (natural)The national park is named for the yacht which carried Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, Che Guevara and the other 79 members of the 26th of July Movement to Cuba to overthrow Fulgencio Batista. The park features a unique karst topography with features such as terraces, cliffs, and waterfalls. [5] [14]
Viñales Valley Nebel im Valle des Vinales, Kuba.jpg Pinar del Río 1999840; iv (cultural)The village of Viñales was founded in 1875 after the expansion of tobacco cultivation in the surrounding valley. The Valley features a karst topography, vernacular architecture, and traditional cultivation methods. The Valley was also the site of various military engagements in the Cuban War of Independence and Cuban Revolution. [10] [15]
Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba. Cuba Cafetal Isabelica P1080153a.jpg Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo 20001008; iii, iv (cultural)During the 19th and early 20th centuries, eastern Cuba was primarily involved with coffea cultivation. The remnants of the plantations display the techniques used in the difficult terrain, as well as the economic and social significance of the plantation system in Cuba and the Caribbean. [9]
Alejandro de Humboldt National Park Alejandro de Humboldt National Park.jpg Holguín and Guantánamo 2001839; ix, x (natural)The rivers that originate in the high elevations are among the largest of the Insular Caribbean. The park exhibits a wide array of geology types. It contains many biological species, including 16 of Cuba's 28 endemic plant species, as well as animal species such as the endangered Cuban solenodon. [4] [16]
Historic Centre of Cienfuegos CienfuegosCatedral.JPG Cienfuegos 20051202; ii, v (cultural)Cienfuegos was founded in 1819 as a Spanish colony, though its first inhabitants were French immigrants. It became a trade center in the sugar cane, tobacco, and coffee trade because of its location on the Cienfuegos Bay. Because of its establishment in the later colonial period, the architecture has more modern influences: including modern ideas of urban planning. [17]
Historic Centre of Camagüey Camaguey rooftops 1.jpg Camagüey 20081270; iv, v (cultural)Camagüey is among the first seven villages founded by the Spanish in Cuba, first settled in 1528. The irregular organization of the city is distinct from the typical, orderly construction of most other Spanish settlements. This maze-like style was influenced by medieval European ideas and traditional construction methods of early immigrant masons and construction workers. [8]

Tentative list

In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage List are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list. [18] Cuba has three properties on its tentative list. [1]

Tentative sites
SiteImageLocation (province)Year listedUNESCO criteriaDescription
Ciénaga de Zapata National Park Zapata swamp.JPG Matanzas 2003vii, ix, x (natural)The park is listed as a Biosphere Reserve and has a variety of landscapes and species, including mangrove forests and stretches of coral reef. [19]
National Schools of Art, Cubanacán Loomis school music.jpg La Habana 2003i, ii, iii, iv, v (cultural)The National Schools of Art was established in 1962 to train artists in plastic arts, music, ballet, drama, modern and folkloric dancing. The architecture is a Cuban contemporary style with the architects using brick in place of cement which was scarce at the time. [20]
Reef System in the Cuban Caribbean ISS-42 Cuba's Jardines del Rey archipelago.jpg Pinar del Río, Artemisa, La Habana, Mayabeque, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey 2003vii, x (natural)The site includes different sections of coral reef across the southern coast, particularly centered on the Canarreos and Jardines de la Reina archipelagos. The site stretches from the Guanahacabibes peninsula at the westernmost point of Cuba to the Jardines de la Reina in the southeast. In total, the system is 800 kilometers (500 mi) long and includes nine different protected sites. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces of Cuba</span> Administrative divisions of Cuba

Administratively, Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and one special municipality. The current structure has been in place since August 2010, when the then-La Habana Province was divided into Artemisa Province and Mayabeque Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinidad, Cuba</span> Municipality in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba

Trinidad is a town in the province of Sancti Spíritus, central Cuba. Together with the nearby Valle de los Ingenios, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988, because of its historical importance as a center of the sugar trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Trinidad is one of the best-preserved cities in the Caribbean from the time when the sugar trade was the main industry in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viñales Valley</span> Karstic depression in Cuba

Viñales Valley is a karstic depression in Cuba. The valley has an area of 132 km2 (51 sq mi) and is located in the Sierra de los Órganos mountains, just north of Viñales in the Pinar del Río Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desembarco del Granma National Park</span> National park

Desembarco del Granma National Park is a national park in south-western Cuba, stretching across the Niquero and Pilón municipalities in what is now Granma Province. The name of the park means "Landing of the Granma" and refers to the yacht in which Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro, and 79 of their supporters sailed from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 and incited the Cuban Revolution. The National park is well known for its karst topography and coastal cliffs.

Valle de los Ingenios, also named Valley de los Ingenios or Valley of the Sugar Mills, is a series of three interconnected valleys about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) outside of Trinidad, Cuba. The three valleys, San Luis, Santa Rosa, and Meyer, were a centre for sugar production from the late 18th century until the late 19th century. At the peak of the industry in Cuba there were over fifty sugar cane mills in operation in the three valleys, with over 30,000 slaves working in the mills and on the sugar cane plantations that surrounded them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plaza Mayor, Trinidad, Cuba</span>

The Plaza Mayor in Trinidad, Cuba, is the historic centre of the town, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of Cuba-related articles</span>

The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan García Rodríguez</span>

Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez is a Cuban prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as Archbishop of Havana since 26 April 2016. He previously served as an Auxiliary Bishop of Camagüey from 1997 to 2002 and then as archbishop of that diocese from 2002 to 2016. He is a past president of the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops. Pope Francis raised him to the rank of cardinal on 5 October 2019.

The Ingenio Engombe is located in the Santo Domingo Oeste municipality from the Santo Domingo province of the Dominican Republic. The 16th century mill was a leading regional producer of sugar, and a signifying exemplar of renaissance-era architecture for its lavish forms. A two-story mansion and a chapel remain standing on the sugar mill grounds. The site is being considered to be put on the World Heritage list of sites who have "outstanding universal value" to the world.

The World Heritage Earthen Architecture Programme (WHEAP) is a UNESCO initiative promoting earthen architecture founded in 2007 and running till 2017.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Cuba". UNESCO. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  2. ↑ "The World Heritage Convention". UNESCO. Archived from the original on August 27, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Report of the Rapporteur". UNESCO. January 17, 1983. Archived from the original on May 21, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Alejandro de Humboldt National Park". UNESCO. Archived from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Desembarco del Granma National Park". UNESCO. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  6. 1 2 "Old Havana and its Fortifications". UNESCO. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  7. 1 2 "Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios". UNESCO. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  8. 1 2 "Historic Centre of Camagüey". UNESCO. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  9. 1 2 "Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South-East of Cuba". UNESCO. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  10. 1 2 "Viñales Valley". UNESCO. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  11. ↑ "UNESCO World Heritage Centre – The Criteria for Selection". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "Trinidad, Cuba". Organization of World Heritage Cities. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  13. ↑ "San Pedro de la Roca Castle, Santiago de Cuba". UNESCO. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  14. ↑ "In Depth: Dear Granma". Bayamo Travel Guide. Frommers. Archived from the original on December 24, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Viñales (Cuba)" (PDF). UNESCO. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Solenodon cubanus". International Union for Conservation of Nature. Archived from the original on December 24, 2018. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos". UNESCO. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2010.
  18. ↑ "Tentative Lists". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  19. ↑ "Ciénaga de Zapata National Park". UNESCO. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  20. ↑ "National Schools of Art, Cubanacán". UNESCO. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2010.
  21. ↑ "Reef System in the Cuban Caribbean". UNESCO. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2010.

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