The Park José Martí
is located in the historic center of Cienfuegos. It is one
of the greatest symbols of the city.
History
On January 1, 1818,
the French Infantry Lieutenant Colonel Luis Lorenzo De
Clouet Piette y Fauvrot (1766-1848) proposed to Jose
Maria Cienfuegos Jovellanos, the Spanish military Governor
and Captain General of Cuba from1816 to 1819 and to
Alejandro Ramirez Blanco (1771-1821), Chief of the
Treasury of Cuba, to establish a new Spanish colony
around the Jagua Bay. One should keep in mind that one
year before De Clouet had founded the first Chamber of High
Masonic Degrees of Cuba in Havana. His proposal was accepted
and formalized as the colonization contract by the Captain
General on March 8,1819.
During the same
period, following the way from Batabanó, 46 French
settlers from Bordeaux and New Orleans, along with Dr.
Domingo Monjenié and the land surveyor Domingo Dubroct
arrived at the area called Jagua by the native Siboneys
(current Cienfuegos). They moved to the banks of the
Saladito river, and with the direction of De Clouet they
intended to establish the colony in the place known as Sitio
de Hurtado (Stolen Site), a place very close to an old
settlement that was abandoned by the native Indians
(probably in Coacoí). The land was the property of Marine
Brigadair Honorato Bouyón. Here, they camped in eight tents,
shacks and roughly built huts.
On April 19, 1819, a
group of prominent residents of Jagua, headed by the
illustrious benefactor Agustín de Santa Cruz y de Castilla,
visited De Clouet and suggested him to establish the colony
on the land of the huge farm on the Peninsula de la Majagua
that was the property of Antonia Guerrero, the wife
of the nobleman Agustín de Santa Cruz y de Castilla.
The farm was known by the name of Embarcadero de los
Castilla (Pier of the Castilla) and it was a place where the
sugar produced in the mill, named Nuestra Señora de
la Candelaria, was loaded onto ships in the Jagua Bay.
Agustín de Santa Cruz's generous offer to the state did not
end there; he also allowed the new settlers to use
farm-owned slaves, carts, tools for their own business.
Furthermore, he proposed that 130 cattle of his farm in
Caunao (or Caonoa; neighborood of Cienfuegos, 7 km far from
the main city) be divided among the nascent population. All
these were encouraging enough to draw the population
to the new colony. According to the minutes, drawn up for
this purpose, the offer was accepted on April 22, 1819, so
that De Clouet took possession of the land in the name of
His Majesty the King of Spain, announcing this date as the
foundation of the Colonia Fernandina de Jagua (named after
the Spanish King Ferdinand I of Aragon) on the bottom of the
bay where the historical center of Cienfuegos is located
today.
As soon as the new
colony was established, parcellation work was started on the
existing land, plots were distributed to the settlers, and
the location of the streets was determined. The plot where
the Tomás Terry Theater is located today, was donated to
Agustín de Santa Cruz. The merits and services rendered by
him was considered by the State, so that he was appointed
the Colonel of Militias and received the title of Count of
Santa Cruz de Cumanayagua.
While the plots were distrubed to the
settlers on April 22, 1819, the day of the foundation of
Fernandina de Jagua, the place where the José Martí Park is
located today, was taken as the starting point for the
layout of the first streets, which limited the blocks of the
land that was given to the settlers. It is said that Félix
Bouyón, the frigate captain of the Royal Navy, took a
majagua as the starting point for the layout of the first
block of the entire town. Majagua is a forest
tree of Cuba and Jamaica having variably hairy leaves and
orange-yellow or orange-red flowers. The grassy plain with
few trees (the savannah) around the majagua was determined
as the area of the park of the newly founded town.
The park was
occupying the area bordered by the streets San Carlos (Avenida
56), San Fernando (Avenida 54), Santa Isabel (Calle 29) and
San Luis (Calle 27). Eventhough it was intended as the outer
limit of the city, in a short time it became the main social
activity center of the city. It was also used as the parade
ground. Later, the place was called Plaza de Ramírez, in
memory of Alejandro Ramírez (1777-1821), Intendant General
of the Island, for his support to De Clouet in the
foundation of a new colony. In the second half of the 19th
century, it received the name Plaza Real de San Fernando.
In 1860, a paved
walk was built, tiling the central promenade from east to
west, and the Serrano room was constructed in honor of
Francisco Serrano, Captain General of the Island.
Subsequently, the place started to be known as Paseo de
Serrano. Later it received the name Plaza de Recroe, as some
some innovations and arrangements were made in the park.
Since the first decade of the 20th century, it is called as
Parque José Martí.