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despite of the advanced development of its tourism infrastructures,
the sugar agricultural industry and the exploitation of its enormous
nickel deposits are two of the province's most important economic
supports.Holguín is widely known as the city of parks,
because of the existence of a great number of these open spaces
that serve as ornaments and distinctive elements,
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and it is identified by the Loma de
la Cruz (Hill of the Cross), a hill which marks the geographic north and
whose top is crowned with a gigantic wooden cross.
It is precisely at the base of this mountain, an excellent
lookout, where people from Holguín carry on every year their celebrations
of Las Romerías de Mayo, a traditional event which together the
Party of the Iberian American Culture held in October, have become two
of the most important moments of the divers cultural activities of the
city.
There in this city two religious places with an admirable
architecture, the churches of San Isidoro and San José. The city
also has one of the most important museums of natural history of the country
and a unique center for the rehabilitation of drug addicts, El Quinqué.
This land of discoveries also provides its visitors with the opportunity
of enjoying unforgettable days in the most divers natural scenarios. Guardalavaca,
Playa Esmeralda and Pesquero are beaches of limpid, warm and transparent
waters; fine sand, abundant coastal vegetation, surrounded by a particularly
irregular topography.
There are in this place excellent conditions
for the practice of snorkeling in a garden of corals grown in
the midst of an irregular and complex sea bottom.The closeness
to other places of interest reinforces in a considerable way the
beach resorts of Holguín.In the outskirts of Playa Esmeralda
you will be able to visit the natural park known as Bahía
de Naranjo, also located very close to Guardalavaca,
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el Chorro de Maita (large archaeological site
with a unique museum of its kind in the West Indies); the Taino Village,
a replica of the way of life the potter Aruaca natives; and the city of
Banes, known as the capital of archaeology in Cuba.
The untouched beauty of Playa Blanca and two hills that
called the attention of Christopher Columbus himself: La Silla de Gibara
(The Sattle of Gibara), named so because of its similitude to a sattle;
and La Mezquita (The Mosque), named so because of likelihood to the Peña
de los Enamorados de Andalucía; are some other attractions of Bariay,
a place of interest for historic and cultural tourism.
A little further east, the white villa of Gibara is
another place worth seeing, because it preserves the most important urban
architectural complex of the province and ruins of great value, such as:
El Cuartelón and La Batería de Fernando VII.
Right at the entrance of Nipe Bay, the biggest one in
the Island and one of the 22 of the province of Holguín, you will
be able to discover a fascinating place: Cayo Saetía, an authentic
natural park with 42 km2 of surface (65% is covered with forests) where
visitors can go on jeep safaris, horse rides or swim in the small and
private virgin beaches of the place.
Those who enjoy nature and adventure tourism will find
in Holguín two spaces of privilege for this activities: the national
parks of La Mensura, habitat for about 300 endemic species of Cuban flora;
and Alejandro Humboldt.
There is in La Mensura (995 meters above sea level)
a tourism resort, Pinares de Mayarí, and several opportunities
to enjoy, among them the Gran Salto del Guayabo, one of the most impressive
waterfalls in the country.
The facilities for the visitors of the Alejandro Humboldt
national park include two small guests centers, five camps and camping
sites and ten places of interest currently under operations. Access to
this park is provided from Moa, in Holguín, whose Gran Caverna
(Great Cave) qualifies as one of the five natural national monuments of
the archipelago.
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