20°00N 75°49W, pop (2000e) 433 500. Seaport capital of Santiago de Cuba province, SE Cuba, on S coast; Cuba's second largest city; founded, 1514; formerly capital of the republic; scene of events in Spanish-American War of 1898, when town surrendered to US forces; scene of Castro's 1953 revolution; rail terminus; university (1947); trade in coffee, tobacco, sugar; cathedral (1528); Museum of Colonial Art; San Pedro de la Roca Castle, a world heritage site; Festival de Caribe (Apr); carnival (Jul).
Santiago de Cuba is the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in eastern Cuba.
Historically Santiago de Cuba has long been the second most important city on the island after Havana, and still remains the second largest.
History
Santiago de Cuba was founded by Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar on June 28, 1514.
The city was plundered by French forces in 1553, and by British forces in 1662.
On 12th June, 1766, the city was almost destroyed by an earthquake.
The city experienced an influx of French immigrants in the late 18th century and early 19th century, many coming from Haiti after the Haitian slave revolt of 1791.
It was also the location where Spanish troops faced their main defeat at San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898, during the Spanish-American War.
Cuban poet, writer, and national hero, José Martí, is buried in Cementerio Santa Efigenia.
Role in the Cuban Revolution
Santiago was also the home of the revolutionary hero, Frank Pais.
In the summer of 1955, País’ organization merged with Castro's July 26 Movement.
On 1 January 1959, Fidel Castro proclaimed the victory of the Cuban Revolution from a balcony on Santiago de Cuba's town hall.
Change in province boundaries
Until a rearrangement of province boundaries in 1976, Santiago de Cuba was the capital of Cuba's Oriente Province, which included the present day provinces of Holguín, Las Tunas, Guantánamo, Granma and Santiago de Cuba.
World Heritage Site
The local citadel of San Pedro de la Roca is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "the most complete, best-preserved example of Spanish-American military architecture, based on Italian and Renaissance design principles".
World Heritage Biosphere Reserve
The Baconao Park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Biosphere Reserve List in 1987.
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