CubaPLUS Magazine

Authorities and citizens evoked the 160th anniversary of the proclamation of Matanzas city as the Athens of Cuba on Monday, when an artistic gala was held.

The celebration took place on the date when that major cultural event occurred in the 19th century, and the gala was held at the Jose White Concert Hall in this city, some 100 kilometers east of Havana. At the gala, the Provincial Culture Directorate granted the La Tortola Distinction, named after an emblematic work by poet Jose Jacinto Milanes (1814-1863), to 14 local figures due to their contributions to the province's culture. The artistic show included performances by outstanding pianist and composer Alejandro Falcon, the rumba group Los Muñequitos de Matanzas and the Nova Danza company. On February 1860, at the inauguration of the Artistic Lyceum, its director, Rafael del Villar, proclaimed Matanzas as the Athens of Cuba, comparing it with the Greek city in the 5th century BC, during the Pericles Empire, as an acknowledgement of the city's cultural development. The introduction of the printing press in 1813 and the creation of the Patriotic Council in 1827, as well as the foundation of the Public Library and the development of children's schools, are major precedents in the region's cultural history. Matanzas hosted the Philharmonic Society, later the Artistic and Literary Lyceum, in addition to the construction of the Sauto Theater and the presence of major poets, such as Milanes himself and Gabriel de la Concepcion Valdes (Placido), who excelled in the 19th century.