CubaPLUS Magazine

The Valley of the Sugar Mills (Valle de los Ingenios), in southern central Cuba, is a rural historic site where numerous sugar mills were built, based on the exploitation of slave labor.

This plantation system in the Trinidad region left a legacy of 73 industrial archaeological sites with construction remains, such as boiler houses, towers, wells, infirmaries and cemeteries, among others.

Beautiful estates were built there, many of which have been restored to their former glory.

Residences such as San Isidro de los Destiladeros, Guáimaro, Manaca-Iznaga, Guachinango and Buenavista were renovated at different times and some now provide food and lodging.

The latter is among the most valuable, in terms of heritage and history.

Meanwhile, the Guachinango hacienda, with written references dating back to 1806, is the only cattle ranch in the valley with a unique rustic style.

With beautiful landscape spread over 253 square kilometers, the green valley is an attraction for residents of the third of the first seven villages settled by the  Spanish on the island, and for national and foreign visitors.

The historic city center of Trinidad de Cuba, founded in 1514 by the Adelantado Diego Velázquez, was declared Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 1988. Along with the Valley of the Sugar Mills.

This includes the iconic Manaca-Iznaga tower, source of many legends and linked to the history of the sugar industry for its use as watchtower and bell tower to guard the extensive cane fields from the dangers of fires, as well as escapes and slave revolts.

Today its use is very different, as it is climbed by those wishing to see the Valley of the Sugar Mills from up high. 

It was the tower of the former sugar mill San Alejo de Manaca, commissioned by Alejo María del Carmen Iznaga y Borrell in the late 1920s/early 1930s.

Some texts claim that its height is 43.5 meters, while others state 45 meters, but what time has not erased is the mystery surrounding it and legends of the supposed rivalry of two brothers and their bet to see who built the deepest and highest tower.

It is said the tower and nearby well were built in this way.

The lithographs of the Frenchman Eduardo Laplante show the idyllic way in which the sugar mills enriched the planters and transformed Trinidad into a prosperous village, leaving behind a rich colonial architecture and exceptional artisan traditions.

Trinidad’s 19th-century economic and political importance was replaced later in the century by isolation, which led to it becoming one of the best preserved cities in America.