Gibara

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Gibara
Coordinates: 21 ° 6 ′  N , 76 ° 8 ′  W
Map: Cuba
marker
Gibara​
Gibara on the map of Cuba
Basic data
Country Cuba
province Holguín
City foundation 1817
Residents 71,126  (2018 (estimate))
City insignia
Escudo de Gibara.jpg
Detailed data
surface 619.35 km 2
Population density 114.8 inhabitants / km 2
height 1  m
City structure 8 barrios
prefix + 53-24
Time zone UTC -5
Look at Gibara
Look at Gibara

Gibara is a city in the Holguin Province in the Republic of Cuba. It is the fifth largest city in this province. The "white city", as it is also called, is located approx. 50 km north of Holguin in the Bay of Gibara on the Atlantic Ocean .

geography

Gibara is located on the north coast of the province of Holguín, between 21º06'34 "N and 76º07'54" E. With a territory of 630 km² it occupies ninth place in the province of Holguin in terms of area, with the municipality making up 6.7 percent of the area. The city is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the city of Holguín to the south, the municipality of Rafael Freyre to the east and the municipality of Calixto García and the province of Las Tunas to the west.

Demographics

According to the National Bureau of Statistics and Information of Cuba, the community had 71,726 inhabitants at the end of 2018. It represents 7.0 percent of the population of Holguin Province.

The city is divided into the different districts (barrios) Arroyo Blanco, Blanquizal, Bocas, Candelaria, Cantimplora, Cupeycillos, Palmita, Rabón. The municipality also includes five larger settlements: Velasco, Floro Pérez, Bocas, San Felipe de Uñas, Playa de Caletones and some smaller settlements such as Arroyo Seco, Limones, La Gegira, Playa Los Bajos. Las Caobas, Los Hoyos de Gibara.

history

Christopher Columbus first reached the island of Cuba on October 27, 1492 . From his ship he first looked at a saddle-shaped mountain now known as the chair of Gibra . On the morning of October 29, 1492, his ships anchored in what is now Gibara Bay , which Columbus then called the River of Lakes . Columbus noted in his logbook that this would be the most beautiful country that the human eye has ever seen . The ships left the bay on October 30, but had to return to the bay on October 31 due to bad weather. Until the final departure on November 12th, he and his people came into contact with the indigenous people living there at the time, who demonstrated the use of tobacco to Europeans for the first time .

On January 16, 1817, the first foundation stone of a fortress was laid at Punta de Yarey on the shores of Gibara Bay in a solemn ceremony . This date has been considered the city's founding date ever since. In 1821 the village of Gibara consisted of 21 houses and in 1823 the town hall was inaugurated. In 1853 the parish church of San Fulgencio was built. The developed port of Gibara contributed to the good economic development of the place. In 1862 a mixture of Canaries , Spaniards , other Europeans, as well as people from America and Africa lived in Gibara . The census of that year showed 1754 inhabitants, it grew to 7599 inhabitants by 1877.

Gibara train station on a postcard (around 1900)

On April 4, 1893, the Holguín-Gibara railway line was opened, which further promoted trade and the connection between Gibaras and the rest of the east of the island. This connection was closed again in 1956.

At the time of an 1899 census , the urban population of the city of Gibara exceeded the city of Holguín by several hundred people. Gibara's economy was based on the sale of cedar wood and mahogany , sugar and tobacco, corn , bananas, beef and pork, but horse breeding and the sale of mussels also played a major role. On the night of September 7th, 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the city, wreaking havoc. The old town of Gibara was declared a Cuban National Monument in 2003 .

The Festival Internacional de Cine de Gibara ( Gibara International Film Festival , founded as the Festival del Cine Pobre (Festival of Poor Cinema )) has also been held in Gibara since 2003 .

Culture and sights

San Fulgencio Church and Statue of Liberty in the center of Gibara
  • Catholic Church of San Fulgencio
  • Decorative Arts Museum (one of the most complete collections of its kind in Eastern Cuba)
  • Local History Museum
  • Museo de Historia Natural (Natural History Museum)
  • Former Spanish Casino (now Casa de la Cultura)
  • Theater (built in 1890, renovated since 2016)
  • El Cuartelón (ruins of the fortifications built by the Spanish in the 19th century)
  • Bateria de Fernando VII (fortress built in the 19th century to protect the port from pirate attacks)
  • Cueva de los Panaderos (caves near Gibara)
  • Hotel Ordoño (now Hotel Iberostar Heritage Gibara ; newly renovated hotel from the 20th century)
  • Hotel Arsenita

economy

Today Gibara's economy is based on textile production , fishing , tobacco production and tourism .

In the 1980s, the construction of a nuclear power plant near Gibara was planned and construction started, but this was stopped again in 1992.

The third wind farm in the country Gibara I was opened near Gibara in 2007 . With 5.1 MWh, this is one of the largest capacities in Cuba. Gibara II was also built in 2010 with a capacity of 4.1 MWh.

and display information about the image
Panoramic picture of Gibara

Personalities

Hotel Arsenita in Gibara

literature

  • Frank-Peter Herbst: Reise Know-How Cuba: travel guide for individual discovery , Peter Rump Verlag, Bielefeld, 2017, ISBN 978-3-8317-4451-0 , p. 242ff.
  • Wolfgang Ziegler: Cuba Michael Müller Verlag, Erlangen 2017, ISBN 978-3-95654-345-6 .

Web links

Commons : Gibara  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Administrative Division - Provinces and Municipalities
  2. ↑ Gibara. In: Guije.com. Retrieved October 30, 2019 (Spanish).
  3. ↑ Report on the restoration of the theater on www.cibercuba.com (span.)
  4. ↑ Article at www.handelsblatt.com about the wind farm