Surrounded by impressive mountains that link the Sierra Maestra to the sea, Santiago is a city of hills and inclined streets, with numerous places of interest and a history linked to struggles for national independence. It is also a city that brings together people of African and Spanish origin, along with descendants of emigres from the French West Indies. Thus Santiago is a veritable melting pot.

We started the day with breakfast at the terrace garden atop Hotel Casa Granda opened in 1914. It was here sitting with a cigar in one hand and a seven-year-old ron añejo in the other, that Graham Greene wrote part of Our Man in Havana. We were overlooking Parque Céspedes  with its monument in the centre of this former parade ground dedicated to the park's namesake, Manuel Céspedes, considered the "father of the country." A major 19th-century landowner and sugar producer, he freed his slaves and then joined his country's struggle for independence.

To the left was Santa Iglesia Basílica, one of the oldest cathedrals in Cuba, built in 1522 and restored in 1932. This classical cathedral is topped by a superb sculptue, the Angel of the Annunciation, which stands between two tall, domed bell towers. The interior is made entirely of carved wood and houses an ecclesiastical museum where several manuscripts dating from the early days of colonization are on display. The night view is just as superb.

On the east side of the square we visited the Casa Diego Velázquez . Consided a masterpiece of colonial architecture, it was erected in 1515 for Diego Velásquez and has withstood the ravages of time. The extraordinary interior boasts the original carved-wood furnishings, ceiling and balconies, while warm pastel tones on the walls and an abundance of luxuriant plants on the patio add to the delightful surroundings. The house is now home to the Casa Museo Ambiente Histórico Cubano, a museum that recreates various colonial interiors using period furniture and decorations. The guide's knowledge was exceptional.

The town hall was built in 1950 according to 18th century designs. It was from this building's central balcony that Fidel Castro made his first speech to the Cuban people on January 1, 1959. It was a beautiful day and we could see for miles but it was soon time to join our driver, Rolando, for a city tour. Amongst the many sites we saw was the high stairs financed by Bacardi and the barracks (large yellow building) attacked by Castro in the 1950s and now a primary school. Bacardi, the world’s largest privately held, family-owned spirits company, started producing rum in Santiago way back in 1862. The family fled Cuba after the revolution in 1959.  The company's current production sales exceed 240 million bottles a year in 170 countries. Emilio Bacardi’s private art and antique collection is still in Santiago as is the original family rum distillery. It was the fruit bats that nested in the rafters of the original rum factory that gave Bacardi rum its world-famous bat logo.

We made a loop around San Juan Hill where Teddy Rooseveldt's Roughriders fought in 1898 and continued on past two very impressive monuments — the Forest of the Heroes with Plaques to soldiers who followed Ché Guavara to Bolivia, and Revolution Plaza with General Maceo on horseback surrounded by 23 stylized machetes. Today, the 23 of February is celebrated as the start of the 2nd War of Independence.We stopped at Santa Ifigenia Cemetary famous for the important Cubans buried there as well as grand funerary monuments — tombs of Neo-Classical, eclectic and modernist design. The gateway to this cemetery is dominated by a memorial to Cuban soldiers who died fighting in Angola. We made a special stop at the impressive tomb of Cuban national hero, revolutionary and writer Jose Marti. The tomb is in the form of a crenulated hexagonal tower with each side representing one of Cuba’s six original provinces. The round mausoleum is designed so that the sun will always shine on Marti’s casket, which is draped with the Cuban flag.

Eventually we approached Granma Key in the Bay of Santiago de Cuba and Morro Castle came into view. The Morro, an enormous piece of military architecture - a maze of stairways and dungeons - was begun in 1640. It was rebuilt in 1664 after the English pirate, Henry Morgan, reduced it to rubble. The castle now houses the Museum of Piracy, featuring displays on piracy, colonialism, and slavery.

It was time for lunch and Victor made special arrangements to get us over to the dock restaurant on Granma Key. While we waited for the ferry we observed a fellow Canadian showing showing off his mighty Marlin catch - about 5% of which he was allowed to keep. The crossing and lunch were most pleasant but soon it was time to return to our bus for the next part of our adventure.

Travelling about 18km (11 miles) W of Santiago de Cuba we approached the Basilica del Cobre. At a stop along the way we were offered holy stones, probably from the nearby old copper mines and soon there were swarms of venders. Lodged in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra near the old copper mines that give it its name we were approaching the most important shrine for Cubans and most famous church in the country . The triple-domed church with the mouthful name of El Sanctuario de Nuestra Señora de la Caridad del Cobre, built in 1927, rises on Maboa hill and is photogenically framed by green forest. The faithful come from across Cuba on pilgrimages to pay their respect to (and ask for protection from) a black Madonna, the Virgen de la Caridad (Virgin of Charity). She is nothing less than the protectress of Cuba, and her image, cloaked in a glittering gold robe can be seen throughout the country. Her parallel figure in Afro-Cuban worship is Ochún, goddess of love and femininity, who is also dark-skinned and dressed in bright yellow garments. In 1998 the Pope visited and blessed the shrine, calling the Virgin "La Reina de los Cubanos" (Queen of Cubans), and donated a rosary and crown.

According to legend, Cuba's patron saint was rescued bobbing in the Bay of Nipe in 1611 by three young fishermen (or miners, depending on who's telling the story) about to capsize in a storm. The Madonna wore a sign that read YO SOY LA VIRGEN DE LA CARIDAD (I am the Virgin of Charity). With the wooden statue in their grasp, they miraculously made it to shore. Pilgrims, who often make the last section of the trek on their knees, pray to her image and place mementos (votos) and offerings of thanks for her miracles; among them are small boats and prayers for those who have tried to make it to Florida on rafts. Ernest Hemingway — whose fisherman in The Old Man & the Sea made a promise to visit the shrine if he could only land his marlin — donated his Nobel Prize for Literature to the shrine, but it was stolen (and later recovered, but never again to be exhibited here). The Virgin sits on the second floor, up the back stairs, encased in glass. When Mass is being said, the push of a button turns the Virgin around to face the congregation. The annual pilgrimage is September 12, and the patron saint's feast day is July 25. (Credit:-Frommers)

Index — Cuba - As It Was in 2003