🇨🇺 Cuba · Central Cuba
There are towns that seem frozen in time, and Remedios is one of them. This small colonial town in central Cuba, one of the first founded on the island, revolves around a Plaza Mayor that many consider one of the prettiest in the country: tree-lined, surrounded by low colorful houses and presided over, an unusual case, by two churches. The rhythm is slow, people greet you as they pass and the visitor has the sensation of having found the authentic Cuba, far from the bustle of the big destinations.
But Remedios hides a double soul. Eleven months of the year it's a haven of colonial peace; but each December it transforms into the scene of the Parrandas, one of the oldest, loudest and most spectacular popular festivals in Cuba. The town's two historic neighborhoods —San Salvador (the rooster) and El Carmen (the hawk)— compete in a battle of monumental floats, plaza works, lanterns and, above all, fireworks that light up the sky throughout Christmas Eve. That tradition, declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, defines the Remedios identity.
This guide covers the essentials of Remedios with a practical and warm eye: what to see in its historic center, how to understand and experience the Parrandas, how to combine the town with the beaches of the northern cays and with Santa Clara, where to sleep in casas particulares and how to get around. Remedios is one of those places where less is more: a small town that gives one of the most genuine experiences of Cuba.
San Juan de los Remedios was founded in the early 16th century (its origin is usually placed around 1513-1515, around the arrival of the first Spanish settlers to the area), which makes it one of the oldest towns in Cuba, although it doesn't appear on the canonical list of the 'first seven towns' founded by Diego Velázquez. Born near the north coast, it suffered during the 16th and 17th centuries the attacks of pirates and corsairs who ravaged the Caribbean, which even led to a famous attempt, in the 17th century, to move the whole population inland to found what would be Santa Clara: part of the residents moved, but others refused and kept Remedios alive. From that era of uncertainty and the strong religiosity of its inhabitants come many of its legends, like that of the goblins or 'jimaguas'. The city then prospered with cattle ranching, tobacco and sugar of the central region. Its great mark of identity, the Parrandas, is said to have arisen in the early 19th century when, according to tradition, a local priest (the popular figure of Father Francisco Vigil de Quiñones) encouraged the children to go through the streets making noise with cans and horns so that people would come to the Christmas dawn Masses (misas de Aguinaldo); from that festive din were born, over time, the parrandas that pit the neighborhoods of San Salvador and El Carmen against each other. Today that tradition is Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The full history is on our history page.
Read the full history ↓The province of Che and of the decisive battle of the Revolution: land of Santa Clara —the city of Marta Abreu and of the Heroic Guerrilla—, of the colonial town of Remedios and its World Heritage Parrandas, and of the white-sand cays of the north coast such as Cayo Santa María.
Read the history of Villa Clara →No exact prices: a scale from $ (budget) to $$$$$ (luxury), with 2-3 options per category.
Origins, formation and what the sources say.
San Juan de los Remedios is one of the oldest towns in Cuba. Although its founding doesn't appear on the canonical list of the 'first seven towns' established by the adelantado Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar between 1511 and 1515, historians place the origin of the Remedios settlement around those same early years of the Spanish colonization of the island, which makes it one of the first foundations in the country, frequently called the 'eighth town' of Cuba.
The settlement was born in the central region, near the north coast, on lands inhabited by native peoples. The closeness to the sea proved decisive in its history: throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, Remedios was a recurring target of the attacks of pirates, corsairs and buccaneers who infested the Caribbean, drawn by the coasts and by the cattle and agricultural wealth of the area. Those assaults marked the life of the town and fed both its defensive character and its deep popular religiosity.
The exact chronology of the early years of Remedios is subject to nuances among the sources, due to the antiquity of the events and the loss of documentation. What is clear is that, from early on, the town consolidated itself as an important nucleus of the center of the island, with its church, its square and a community of settlers, ranchers and farmers who put down firm roots despite the threats that came from the sea.
One of the most singular episodes in the history of Remedios is the attempt to move the whole population inland, away from the coast and the pirates. At the end of the 17th century, the constant maritime attacks and the town's problems led some authorities and residents to push for the relocation of the town to a safer place in the interior. From that movement was born, in 1689, the city of Santa Clara, founded by families from Remedios.
The relocation, however, deeply divided the community. A part of the residents agreed to leave and found the new settlement; but another part, very attached to their town, refused to abandon Remedios despite the pressures. The resistance of these inhabitants explains why Remedios survived as an independent city instead of disappearing absorbed by Santa Clara, as the supporters of the relocation intended.
Around this conflict was woven one of the most famous legends of the town. According to popular tradition, to convince the reluctant that their town was 'bewitched' and they had to leave, the idea was spread that Remedios was populated by goblins and demons. From there are born the famous stories of the 'jimaguas' or Remedios goblins and the diabolical apparitions that, far from emptying the town, ended up becoming part of its identity and its folklore. Remedios thus remained a town loaded with legends, faith and mystery.
The strong religiosity of Remedios left as its great legacy its Parroquial Mayor de San Juan Bautista, one of the most beautiful churches in Cuba. The church, of colonial origin, has a sober façade, but keeps in its interior a treasure that surprises every visitor: a magnificent baroque high altar covered in gold leaf, along with other gilded altars and a notable wooden ceiling of Mudéjar tradition (alfarje), with carved coffering.
For a long time, much of this richness remained hidden under layers of paint and time. The great restoration came in the 20th century thanks to the patronage of the millionaire Eutimio Falla Bonet, member of a wealthy family linked to the region, who financed in the mid-century the works that returned the church's splendor and brought to light the gold altars and the artistic details that today make it famous.
The church also keeps curiosities that make it unique, like an image of the Immaculate Conception represented pregnant, a rarity within Catholic iconography. Together with the nearby Iglesia del Buen Viaje, the Parroquial Mayor forms the unusual ensemble of two churches overlooking the same square, one of the marks of identity of Remedios and a reflection of the devotion that runs through all its history.
The tradition that made Remedios famous throughout Cuba —the Parrandas— is said to have been born in the first decades of the 19th century, and its origin is wrapped in an endearing story. According to the most widespread account, a priest of the town, popularly identified with the figure of Father Francisco Vigil de Quiñones, worried about the low attendance at the misas de Aguinaldo (the Masses of the Christmas novena, celebrated at dawn), encouraged a group of children to go through the town's streets making noise with cans, horns, whistles and any noisy object, to wake the residents and draw them to the church.
That festive and early-rising din, thought at first as a religious device, kept growing and transforming. With the passing of the years, the spontaneous noise gave way to an increasingly elaborate organization: the music, the lanterns, the banners appeared and, over time, the rivalry between the town's different neighborhoods. Thus, what began as a call to Mass became a popular festival of competition between neighbors.
The town ended up dividing into two great festive sides, which endure to this day: the neighborhood of San Salvador, represented by the symbol of the rooster and the color blue, and the neighborhood of El Carmen, represented by the hawk. Every Christmas, both neighborhoods compete to present the best floats, illuminated structures and fireworks. From that ingenious device of a 19th-century priest was born one of the most spectacular and beloved traditions of Cuba.
The soul of the Parrandas is in the rivalry of the two historic neighborhoods of Remedios. That of San Salvador has as its emblem the rooster and identifies with the color blue; that of El Carmen has as its emblem the hawk. All year long, in often discreet or secret workshops, the residents of each side work on the preparation of their works for the great night of December 24, in a mix of neighborhood pride, artisanal ingenuity and competitive passion that is transmitted from generation to generation.
The festival is composed of several elements that unfold on Christmas Eve. The 'plaza works' are gigantic structures of wood, cloth and thousands of lights that each neighborhood builds in the Plaza Mayor, true works of ephemeral engineering. The allegorical floats parade illuminated through the streets. The Remedios polka plays, the characteristic music of the festival. And, above all, there is the fireworks battle, which for hours fills the sky with light, color and roar, in a thunderous competition between the two neighborhoods.
Beyond the rivalry, the Parrandas are a powerful factor of identity and cohesion for Remedios: they mobilize the whole town, attract emigrant Remedios natives who return for the festival and turn the small town into the center of attention of Cuba every December. The tradition also spread to other towns of the central region, giving rise to the cultural ensemble that UNESCO would recognize as heritage of humanity.
The international recognition of the Parrandas came in 2018, when UNESCO inscribed 'The parrandas of central Cuba' on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The distinction is not limited to Remedios: it covers the set of parrandas celebrated in various towns of the center of the island, a festive tradition of common origin that has in Remedios its oldest and most famous exponent. The recognition values the communal, artisanal character of these festivals, transmitted from generation to generation.
Today Remedios lives a double role. During most of the year it's a peaceful colonial town, one of the best preserved in Cuba, that attracts travelers in search of authenticity, tranquility and architectural beauty, with its Plaza Mayor, its two churches and its intact historic center. Its closeness to the northern cays of Villa Clara —Cayo Santa María, Las Brujas and Ensenachos, accessible via the causeway from Caibarién— has also made it a base of cultural tourism complementary to the beach tourism of the area.
But every December, Remedios recovers its other face and transforms into the scene of the festival that made it famous. That coexistence between colonial silence and festive roar, between ancient faith and gunpowder, between the town frozen in time and the explosion of the Parrandas, defines the identity of one of the most singular and beloved towns in Cuba.