Our Region

In the independence wars, Eusebio Hernández Pérez, a distinguished patriot of Columbus, and Antonio de Armas and La Coba were promoted to Brigadier Generals of the Liberating Army, Ricardo Trujillo, Rafael Águila, Joaquín García Pola, Clotilde García Morejón and Felino Álvarez Duarte received Colonel’s degree. The Colombian woman brought sacrifices to these struggles: Guadalupe Nodal (Lupe), wife of General Antonio de Armas, worked in insurrection camps in Villareños; Edelmira Guerra presided in Cienfuegos the Esperanza del Valle Women's Patriotic Club, which also advocated the emancipation of women and their right to political vote. 

Despite its geographical position inland, without costs or its own port to expand its productions to the world, the effort of his sons and daughters made it possible to convert the room into a town (1867), and then into a city at the end of the 19th century. Eclectic city, evolved from traditional bohío to masonry houses with a predominance of neoclassical style in its civil and religious constructions. Then, he assimilated art nouveau, which has as its most beautiful exponent the balcony of the residence of the wealthy Asturian Manuel Areces Aguirre, the art deco in the Canal theater cinema, and rationalism in the Hotel Caridad. 

With more than 40,000 inhabitants, Colón is the head of the only Cuban municipality with the last name of the Admiral, located in the east center of the province, where 70 248 inhabitants reside in 607.86 square kilometers. It is symbolized by the statue of the monument to Christopher Columbus, the eldest in Cuba to that character (1893), which gave rise to a popular tradition: to be authentic Colombians, children have to ride on the cast iron lions at the base of that memorial construction. 

Among the emblematic constructions, the Museum of the Martyrs of Moncada (declared a Local Monument), the last residence of Doctor Mario Muñoz Monroy and center of conspiracy meetings of the Centennial Generation stand out; and the fort Alfonso XIII or La Loma, the only one in the country with inverted loopholes, a constructive error that, according to oral tradition, caused the death by shooting of its architect after being accused of separatist. 

For its residents and visitors, the Colombian city proudly exhibits several national firsts: a Republican playground (1910s), the bust to the Father of the Fatherland, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (1929), an outdoor bust dedicated to Máximo Gómez (1929), and the Doctor Mario Muñoz Monroy General Teaching Hospital, built entirely by the revolutionary authorities between 1959 and 1962. In addition, its oldest settlers frequently report the almost human attitude of the dog named Moncada, more than 50 years ago, unique can of the country that attended all the funerals and burials, and that was buried in coffin by the town, very close to the San Rafael cemetery. 

Mixed and cosmopolitan city, Colón thanks Pelayo Villanueva Valverde, Antonio Paltenghi, Julio Ángel Collazo Piloto and Roberto Muñoz Monroy for so many years of dedication to local history and the creation of works of social benefit. He also keeps in his memory the visits of José Martí, Fidel Castro, Juan Almeida, Máximo Gómez, Camilo Cienfuegos, Ernesto Che Guevara, José Raúl Capablanca, Alicia Alonso and other relevant figures.

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