Diego Velásquez, in a letter dated April 1st , 1514, mentions the existence of San Salvador de Bayamo. Considered as the melting pot of the Cuban nationality, it was there where the Cuban liberating struggle took off.
The City is located in Granma Province, at the southwest of the eastern region, just 73 kilometers at the south of Holguín. Bayamo displays approximately one hundred outstanding historical sites and belongs to a province accounting for 48% of the whole country.
Once in the core of this city, with a distinguished colonial architecture, you will find the unique 28-meter high tower of the Great Parochial Church. On October 20, 1868, the Cuban National Anthem was intoned from the surrounding square for the first time. Historically associated with the Church, this public square is one of the most important squares in the City and is surrounded by buildings dating from the 19th Century.
Bayamo holds the only two-story colonial house in the City where Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Father of Our Homeland, was born.
In this cradle of the Cuban Traditional Trova, we will be able to find the José Joaquín Palma Concert Hall located in the ancient Church of La Luz where, on March 27, 1851, the tenor Carlos Pérez sang the first Cuban song entitled La Bayamesa, with letter by José Formaris and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and music by Francisco del Castillo.
One of the emblematic sites of Bayamo is its Casa de la Trova located in one of the few 18th Century houses still preserved in that city and currently used by old troubadours who sing their melodies playing traditional guitars, followers of Sindo Garay and the Matamoros Trio and admirers of their youngest compatriot Pablo Milanés.
