baracoa .org - Toda la informacion acerca de Baracoa, primera capital de Cuba y una de las primeras villas españolas en America.

El Yunque

An imposing outcrop of limestone rock, which the Admiral Christopher Columbus immortalised on 27th November 1492 when he wrote in his diary "and at the head of it in the south east part, stands a cape in which there is a high and square mountain that looks like an island…". This is considered irrefutable evidence and has helped historians to determine the date of discovery of what would later become the first of Cuba’s settlements.

El Yunque from Baracoa City

The Yunque is situated between the banks of the rivers Duaba and Toa, its highest altitude above sea level is 575m, it is 1125m long and has a total area of 461000 square metres.

Its flora and fauna are generally exciting, but particularly important is the Coccothrinax Yunquensis, endemic to this zone and sister to our Royal Palm.

El Yunque, Baracoa

Miguel Castro wrote "when we find ourselves at the entrance of the Yunque, we are witnesses that the Royal Palm can easily sustain the sun and that Paradise exists upon earth". It was the refuge of the natives who fled their colonizers and of the maroons and later became an observation point for the Mambises.

El Yunque from Baracoa Bay

For all these reasons the Cuban National Commission of Monuments took the decision on 25th December 1979 to declare it a National Monument, which proclamation was made on top of the mountain on 2nd April 1980, by the president of the commission, Dr. Antonio Núñez Jiménez.

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