Between
myths and legends are weaved the history of this province and the
foundation of its capital city, Santa Clara. Popular imagery and
history itself join to determine the events that provoked that
the town were transferred to its actual position. It is said that
the people from Remedios were afraid of the raids of pirates and
privateers, but popular superstition has created numberless legends
around the event.
Churches and parks speak for themselves of the religious traditions
of this people. The municipality of Remedios has been, through history,
the one having the most deeply rooted traditions. They still annually
celebrate their colorful "parrandas", parties counting
on the participation of many people organized in two rival teams
which compete in cultural manifestations of diverse origin and show
the original synthesis that identifies Cuban nationality. The
influence of those parrandas is such that the diverse attributes
worn by the teams during the competition are represented in the
Museo de las Parrandas Remedianas.
Another municipality where the parrandas have the importance and
influence they have in Remedios, is Camajuaní: their "carrozas",
large ornamented coaches participating in a parade, are famous due
to the painstaking work of the people to build them.
The city of Santa Clara shows with pride the work of its benefactor,
the Villa Clara patriot Marta Abreu de Estévez, to whom they
owe, among other works, the railroad station and the theater La
Caridad, a jewel of the cultural world of Santa Clara. In front
of the Leoncio Vidal park, the Museo de Artes Decorativas, housed
by an ancient house of a wealthy woman from the city, shows the
legacy of the mansion and multiple objects from different epochs
that she owned in life.
Several institutions from the province are proof of the cultural
level of the region. The Vanguardia newspaper and CMHW radio station
have been awarded many national prizes.
In recent years, the cultural development of Santa Clara
has made it become a secondary host of the International Ballet
Festival, the Latin-American Cinema Festival and other renowned
artistic events. The publishing house of the province, Capiro, has
been nationally praised, owing to its work in favor of culture.
The province of Villa Clara, place of birth of great figures like
Alejandro García Caturla and Manuel Corona in the field of
music, Zayda del Río, Lesvia Vent Dumois, Leopoldo Romañach
y Wilfredo Lam in graphic artistic creation; Juan Marinello, Mario
R. Alemán, Enrique Nuñez Rodríguez y Samuel
Feijó in literature; counts also with the Museo de la Música
in Remedios and Sagua la Grande, the Casa de la Ciudad, provincial
institution that promotes annual events, art exhibits, and numberless
cultural activities.
that
the town were transferred to its actual position. It is said that
the people from Remedios were afraid of the raids of pirates and
privateers, but popular superstition has created numberless legends
around the event.
The
influence of those parrandas is such that the diverse attributes
worn by the teams during the competition are represented in the
Museo de las Parrandas Remedianas.
Clara
has made it become a secondary host of the International Ballet
Festival, the Latin-American Cinema Festival and other renowned
artistic events. The publishing house of the province, Capiro, has
been nationally praised, owing to its work in favor of culture.
