Most people know the province of Matanzas because their plane to Cuba lands at the international Airport of Varadero and they start to relax at the beautiful beaches of the city. But Matanzas has some very important sites to the Cuban Revolution. In the south of the province the famous Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) where USA CIA-backed Cuban émigrés tried to invade Cuba to overthrow the revolutionary government. 

Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs)

In the Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs), Playa Giron is one of the beaches where the USA CIA backed Cuban émigrés invaded Cuba to put an end to the Revolution and to safeguard USA interests in Cuba. The other landing zone was Playa Larga. Fidel Castro himself led the counterattack from a sugar mill at the north of the bay in Jaguey Grande. All around the North and Eastern part of the bay you can find graves of victims of the battle, places where invaders surrendered and where battles took place. The little war lasted only for 72 hours. Some 200 invaders were killed and some 1200 men were captured by the Cuban army. At the south end of the Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) in Playa Giron there is a museum dedicated to this battle. The Cubans mostly refer to this war as "Playa Giron".

Cardenas

So far we know Cardenas is worth a visit for two reasons. First of all in this city the Cuban Flag was raised for the first time on May 19, 1850 by general Narciso Lopez, who was strangled in 1851. A plaque on Hotel Dominica and a huge flagpole commemorates this happening. Secondly Cardenas is the native town of Jose Antonio Echeverria, a student leader who was killed by Batista's police in 1957. You can visit his native home. At the square in front of the house is a monument dedicated to Jose Antonio Echeverria. Of course the square is called Parque Echeverria.

Jaguey Grande

In the neighborhood of Jaguey Grande is a big sugar mill. From here Fidel Castro took control of the counterattack against the invasion in the Bay of Pigs (Bahia de Cochinos). There is a little museum and you can visit Fidel Castro's office. You can see the Sau-100 tank used by Fidel Castro during the invasion in Havana in front of the Museo de la Revolucion.

Matanzas

Although the city of Matanzas is quite nice, there are only a few sites related to the Cuban Revolution. In the city itself there is the Cuartel Goicuria. These former barracks of Batista's army were assaulted on April 29, 1956 by a group of rebels led by Reinold T. Garcia. Another more interesting site is to the eastern site of the city at the bridge which crosses the Rio Canimar (Canimar River): Castillo del Morrillo. This castle is now a museum dedicated to Antonio Guiteras Holmes. Next to the bridge there is a big Caoba (Mahogony) tree, where steps will led you finally to two Bronze statues. One representing Holmes, the other one representing his mate Carlos Aponte Hernandez, a Venezuelan revolutionary.

Varadero

Varadero was until the Cuban Revolution a millionaires playground. Famous Mafia Capo Al Capone spend his holidays here. Due to the Revolution all private beaches were declared public in March 1959.