Santiago de Cuba City Map Poster

About Santiago de Cuba

The city was the location where Fidel Castro began his revolution in 1953 against Fulgencio Batista. The city was also scene of the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on July 26, 1898 when United States forces during the Spanish–American War landed at Guasabacoa and El Cobre, east of Santiago de Cuba proper and fought their way to San Juan Hill just outside Santiago. Santiago is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Baragua Cathedral (first cathedral church built in America), founded in 1523; and Santuario de la Virgen del Cobre (the shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Charity). The present Mayor is Dagoberto Rodríguez Pérez-Castejón who succeeded Leonel Fernández Prieto on 24 May 2018.