Matanzas
The Athens Of Cuba, Birthplace Of The Danzon And A Living Home Of Rumba, With A Great Nineteenth Century Theatre And A Publisher That Makes Every Book By Hand · Matanzas, Matanzas
Matanzas was the richest city in nineteenth-century Cuba and spent the money on poets, printers and a theatre, which is why it is still called the Athens of Cuba. The danzon was written and first played here in 1879, rumba grew out of the dockside and sugar barracks of this city, and Los Munequitos de Matanzas, the most famous rumba group in the world, have been based here since 1952. The Teatro Sauto of 1863 is one of the finest theatres in the Americas. At Ediciones Vigia a small workshop has been making books entirely by hand since 1985, out of waste paper and scraps, in numbered editions of two hundred no two of which are identical. The city stands where two rivers meet a bay and is crossed by bridges. Much of it is decaying, and thirty minutes away Varadero sends nobody. It is not a restored showpiece like Trinidad and it does not try to be; what it offers is a working city that invented two of Cuba's musical forms and is still playing them.
Plaza de la Vigia, Matanzas, Matanzas, Matanzas, Cuba
The squares and bridges are open at all times. The Museo Farmaceutico, the Museo Provincial and Ediciones Vigia keep daytime hours with a weekly closing day. TEATRO SAUTO HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR LONG RESTORATIONS and should be confirmed before making a trip for it. Cuevas de Bellamar runs guided tours through the day. Rumba peñas are usually weekend afternoons; ask locally.