Cultural
Landscape of El
Cobre declared a National Monument
THE cultural landscape of El Cobre
and the named places along the way of the Virgen de
la Caridad del Cobre – such as Cayo La Virgen and
Barajagua – have been declared National Monuments of
the Republic of Cuba, according to Resolution 01 of
2012, issued by the National Monuments Commission
attached to the Ministry of Culture.
The official naming, resulting from
a proposal made by the Holguín and Santiago de Cuba
Provincial Monuments Commissions, recognizes the
image of the Virgen de la Caridad, found in the bay
of Nipe in 1612, as part of the identity of the
Cuban people, who have paid tribute to and
identified with her as a symbol of faith and
inspiration for their most profound desires of
freedom and justice.
The resolution, signed by Havana
City Historian Eusebio Leal, president of the
National Monuments Commission, also emphasizes that
the Lesser Basilica of the Virgen María de la
Caridad del Cobre, housing the original image, whose
attributes include the shield of the Cuban nation,
is a place of peregrination for Cubans and visitors
to the country.
Both the Basilica and the town of
Real de Minas where it was built, are located in an
outstanding physical and natural framework, together
creating a cultural landscape of historic value,
given its association with the Church and the
remains of ancient buildings constructed to revere
the Virgin.
Also relevant, the document states,
is the exceptional testimony of Cuba’s industrial
heritage and the first uprisings of the African
slaves in the country, which took place in the
copper mines. This is complemented by the historic
evidence of the tour of the image of the Virgen de
la Caridad del Cobre, found by three humble
fishermen, who carried her from the bay of Nipe to
the indigenous Barajagua settlement, following
tracks which cross the area to the mining town, of
which material evidence remains.
