Pinar del Rio

Pinar del Rio is the capital of the Cuban province of the same name, at the westernmost part of the Cuban archipelago.  This area has the largest snuff factory, which is the center of the cigar industry, with 80% of total production being made here.

Pinar del Rio is the third largest town.  The surface is mostly flat and features throughout the province to the Guaniguanico mountain range which divides naturally into the Sierra de Los Organs and the Sierra del Rosario.

The highest elevation of this area is the Bread of Guajaibon, at 699 meters above sea level.  The sights well worth seeing are concentrated mostly in the Valley of Vinales, one of the most beautiful landscapes of Cuba, located in an area of 132 square miles of the Sierra for the bodies and surrounded by breathtaking mountains rounded tops.

Across this region there are nature trails for those interested in closely observing the exuberant flora and fauna, to which have been added Palmarito cavern systems, Injun and Thomas, the latter being the largest Antillean island at about 45 kilometers.  Ancon El Abra, Valle de las Dos Hermanas, El Hoyo de Jaruco, Sierra del Infierno, and Valle de San Vicente joined the plantations of the best snuff in the world, the botanical garden of Charity and the rural community of aquatic, where the inhabitants cure all ills with water.
In the eastern limit of the range of Guaniguanico Reserve there is located the Sierra del Rosario Biosphere Reserve, which brings together 800 species of plants, 34 percent of endemism and the presence of most species that inhabit the island, especially the humming bird, famous for being the world’s smallest bird, accompanied by tocororo and the woodpecker.

This area is located in Soroa, birthplace of Cuba’s best known orchid centre where there are over 700 varieties to show off their colors and scents. Soroa also provides options for their browser, opens shortcut walks among the vegetation in search of specimens of plants and animals, float trips Springs with its famous waterfall and swimming in its renowned and healthy, healing waters, complemented by access to the ruins of old French coffee plantations.
The Sierra del Rosario Resort also includes the Las Terrazas, dominated by stunning landscapes and over 800 plant species and 73 types of birds in a protected area where the endemics achieve high rates of population and which are located in surrounding thermal baths, natural and sulphurous, the springs of the San Juan River, camping grounds, trails and routes.
In the westernmost Pinar del Rio, marking the boundaries of the island, there is the Guanahacabibes Peninsula, with the national park of the same name and nature reserves Cabo Corrientes and The Veral, in which there are numerous caves containing archaeological remains and a coral reef in good condition, suitable for diving.  In that area, the International Diving Center Maria La Gorda encourages the practice of aquatic sports.  It is eight kilometers of sandy beige beach and calm waters.
History

The city was founded in 1699, although its genesis is earlier.  In 1578 the council of Havana granted to Francisco de Rojas a sheet called Rio Feo.  Five months later, there was another donation of the same land with a different name, to Gaspar Hernandez. Ignored by both the terms of the contract, the City of Havana undertook a survey of such lands by designating them with the names of Pinar del Rio, Tairona and San Mateo, making them subject to new grants.

After the changes, swaps and transactions were completed between different owners in 1719.  But since 1699 the neighborhood of Pinar del Rio came to form, with proof that the priest had no church to provide spiritual services in the district of San Rosendo and who was baptized on 2^nd August of that year to a boy child of natural Jamaica. In 1710 the first chapel stood in the yard of Pinar del Rio, under the patronage of San Rosendo.

Although neither 1699 nor 1710 determined the development of its population, in 1773 Captain Philip Fonsdeviela created a center to serve as the head to the land of what eventually became the province and what was excellent for the cultivation of snuff.