Cuba’s most multi-ethnic city.

So here we have the Republic of Cuba peso, nominal – 1. The year of issue of this coin is 1993, mint: Republic of Cuba, Havana. Total circulation – 10.000. The coin is dedicated to the 478th anniversary of the founding of the city of Santiago de Cuba.

Santiago de Cuba, city, eastern Cuba. The second largest city in the country, it nestles in a valley of the Sierra Maestra that is pierced by a pouch-shaped bay on the Caribbean Sea.

Santiago de Cuba was founded in 1514 by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, first governor of Cuba, it was moved a few miles to the present site in 1522. The settlement commanded a strategic location on the northern Caribbean in the early colonial period, and it served as the capital of Cuba until 1553. With its development as a fortified city, along with a shift of population toward the western end of the island, Santiago de Cuba lost its leading position to Havana. The conquistador Hernán Cortés was the first mayor of Santiago de Cuba, and it was from there that he set out in 1518 on the expedition that culminated in the conquest of Mexico.

Now Santiago de Cuba is the centre of an agricultural and mining region. The city exports copper, iron, manganese, sugar, and fruit, and it is the southern terminus of the country’s Central Highway and Cuba’s major railway. The University of Oriente was founded in 1947. Also, a medical school, a sports stadium, a cathedral, and several museums are located in the city, which is a cultural and tourism centre.