In depth
Matanzas Bay: the city of bridges, the oil terminals and the road to Varadero
Matanzas lies about ninety kilometres east of Havana on a bay that has served as sugar port, coffee port, cultural capital and, today, the island's main oil-handling harbour. The city of rivers and bridges sits at the head of the bay, with Varadero's beaches a short drive away. This guide looks at the bay and its three rivers, the cultural history behind the nickname Athens of Cuba, the electric railway, the 2022 fire at the supertanker base, and how the port fits into the economy of the north coast.
Three rivers and a bay
The name Matanzas means slaughters, and tradition links it to an early massacre on the shore, though historians disagree on the details. What is certain is the geography. The city was founded in 1693 where the Yumurí and San Juan rivers meet the sea at the head of the bay, with the Canímar river entering a little to the east. The old town grew on the low ground between the two rivers and spread over the hills to the north, giving it more than a dozen bridges and the nickname City of Bridges.
The bay opens to the north, which exposes it to the winter fronts that sweep the Straits of Florida but also to the Gulf Stream, which runs only a few kilometres off the coast. The harbour is wide at the mouth and tapers to a sheltered head where the commercial wharves lie. Since the nineteenth century dredging and filling have reshaped the shoreline, and the oil and bulk terminals along the eastern side have replaced the older wharves.
The Athens of Cuba
In the nineteenth century Matanzas became the second city of Cuba for wealth, as the sugar plantations of its hinterland produced a large share of the island's exports. The profits paid for a literary and artistic life unusual in the colonies. The city's poets, newspapers and salons earned it the nickname Athens of Cuba, and its Teatro Sauto, opened in 1863 with a huge painted ceiling and excellent acoustics, remains one of the finest theatres in the Americas.
Other landmarks include the Museo Farmacéutico, a nineteenth-century pharmacy preserved with its original furniture and jars, the Parque de la Libertad at the centre, and the Bellamar caves on the outskirts, discovered in 1861 and visited by many travellers in the following decades. The culture of the city also includes the traditions of Afro-Cuban religion and the rumba, which developed in the working-class districts near the wharves. These sources of identity are valuable for readers who want to understand why Matanzas has a strong sense of itself that is distinct from both Havana and Varadero.
The line from Havana
In the 1910s the American chocolate manufacturer Milton Hershey built a sugar mill and a model town east of Havana, together with an electric railway to carry sugar and passengers between Casablanca, on the Havana bay, and Matanzas. The Hershey Electric Railway, completed in the early 1920s, runs about ninety kilometres through the Cuban countryside, and part of the line still operates with old electric carriages, a rare surviving example of early electric passenger rail in the Caribbean.
The road corridor tells a similar story. The Via Blanca highway follows the coast from Havana through Matanzas to Varadero, passing oil wells, small fishing villages and the great bridge of Bacunayagua, the highest on the island, where the road crosses a deep gorge above the Yumurí valley. This corridor links the port to the capital, the airport at Varadero and the tourist coast, which is why trucking routes, buses and tourist coaches share the same road.
Oil and the supertanker base
The north coast between Havana and Varadero is the centre of Cuba's domestic oil production, and Matanzas became the place where crude is stored and moved. The Matanzas supertanker base, on the shore of the bay, has large tanks and a deep-water berth that allows large tankers to unload imported crude and to load cargoes for the refineries of the island. For decades it has been a pillar of the energy system, and its state of repair and its supply of fuel have been a matter of national concern.
On 5 August 2022 lightning struck a storage tank at the base and started a fire that spread to neighbouring tanks and burned for several days. Firefighters from several parts of Cuba worked at the site, with specialist help from Mexico and Venezuela and equipment sent from other countries, and several firefighters were among the dead. More than a hundred people were injured. The event is one of the worst industrial accidents in the island's history and led to the loss of a large volume of stored fuel, with long-lasting effects on electricity supply. It also raised awareness of the bay's vulnerability, since smoke and spilled oil threatened the water and the city.
How the harbour is used
Beyond the oil terminals, the port of Matanzas handles bulk cargo, including sugar, fertiliser and other dry bulk, and some containers and general cargo. It is part of the state port system under the Ministry of Transport and appears in the UN/LOCODE tables. The harbour is smaller than Mariel and Havana in commercial terms and tends to specialise in cargoes that use the dedicated terminals along the bay.
Matanzas also has a role as a tourism logistics base. Varadero, the principal beach resort of Cuba, lies about thirty-five kilometres from the city, and the Juan Gualberto Gómez airport at Varadero is the second busiest in the country. Supplies for the hotels often travel by road from Havana or Mariel, but regional goods and fuel for generators pass through Matanzas. The fortunes of the port and of the resorts are linked in this way.
Planning a visit
A day in Matanzas can follow the water. Start at the Parque de la Libertad, walk to the Teatro Sauto, cross the Yumurí on one of the bridges, and take the road up to the Ermita de Monserrate for the best view of the bay and the valley. Those with time can visit the caves or the Museo Farmacéutico. The oil installations are not visitor attractions and are best seen from the viewpoint on the opposite shore.
As with every Cuban port, hurricanes are the main natural risk between June and November. The Matanzas coast is exposed to storms that cross the Straits of Florida, and flooding along the rivers is a recurring problem. For up-to-date conditions, consult the national meteorological institute and local authorities.
The cradle of rumba and danzón
Matanzas is as famous in Cuba for its music as for its bridges. The city and its surroundings are regarded as the birthplace of the rumba, a family of drum-and-voice styles that came out of the working-class districts and the port in the late nineteenth century, with three main forms known as yambú, guaguancó and columbia. Rumba was inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016, which reflects its importance to Cuban identity.
The danzón, the elegant couple dance that became Cuba's national dance, is also linked to Matanzas. The musician Miguel Faílde, born in the city, is credited with composing the first danzón, Las alturas de Simpson, in 1879. Orchestras of the period played it in the salons of the Athens of Cuba, and its style travelled to Havana and Mexico. Visitors who want to hear the traditions in context can find rumba performances in the neighbourhoods of the city, and the Sauto theatre hosts classical and popular programmes.
The province beyond the bay
The province of Matanzas is the largest on the western half of the island and includes some of its best known sites. To the south lies the Zapata Peninsula, a vast wetland and national park with crocodile farms, birdwatching and the Bay of Pigs, the site of the failed invasion of April 1961. To the east are Cárdenas, a port town with its own sugar and bulk history, and the Varadero peninsula, a narrow strip of white sand about twenty kilometres long.
Because the province combines oil installations, sugar mills, tourism and farmland, its economy is more varied than the harbour alone suggests. The port of Matanzas sits at the centre of this web, and many decisions about road, rail and electricity in the province affect it. Statistical yearbooks from the national statistics office provide the figures for population, output and tourism by province.
Bridges, rivers and floods
The same rivers that give Matanzas its beauty also cause trouble. The Yumurí and San Juan can rise quickly in heavy rain, and flooding in low parts of the old town is a recurring risk, especially during hurricane season. The bridges themselves are a catalogue of engineering: iron bridges from the nineteenth century, concrete spans from the twentieth, and the high bridge at Bacunayagua on the road to Varadero. Maintenance is a challenge for the city, and visitors will notice that some structures are in need of repair.
Walking the bridges is a good way to see how the city is organised. Starting at the Puente de la Concordia, one can follow the San Juan to the sea, pass the Plaza de la Vigía with the Sauto theatre, and continue along the bay. The route shows both the monuments and the daily life of a mid-sized Cuban city that is not primarily a tourist stop.
How the port connects with Varadero
A recurring question is how the port and the resort relate. The resort receives most of its supplies by road from Havana and Mariel, but the oil and bulk cargoes landed at Matanzas supply energy for the whole region, including the generators and hotels. The airport of Varadero and the highway make the area easily accessible, and a trip between the two takes less than an hour. The port of Cárdenas, a short distance east, serves local needs.
Practical notes for a visit
Matanzas can be reached from Havana by road in about two hours, by the Hershey electric train, a slow journey of several hours when it runs, or by the buses that run between the capital and Varadero. Visitors staying in Varadero often take a day trip, by taxi or on an organised excursion. The Bellamar caves, on the edge of the city, are visited with a guide who leads small groups through illuminated chambers of stalactites and crystal formations. Opening hours and prices change, so confirm locally.
Eating options in the city range from state restaurants around the Parque de la Libertad to small private restaurants called paladares, which have multiplied in recent years. The old pharmacy museum is open to visitors for a modest entrance fee, and the Sauto theatre offers tours when no performance is under way.
Reading the harbour from the heights
The best view of Matanzas Bay is from the Ermita de Monserrate, a small chapel on a hill above the city. From there the line of the bay opens below, with the river mouths on the left, the oil tanks on the right and the sea beyond. On a clear day you can see ships waiting offshore and the arc of the coast toward Varadero. A visitor who wishes to understand how the port, the city and the valley fit together will find that this single viewpoint explains much of the geography.
The Yumurí valley
North-west of the city, the Yumurí valley opens like an amphitheatre below the heights, green with palms and farmland, and it has long been celebrated by poets. The valley is reached by a road that passes through small communities, and the views from the hill are among the best in the province. Its name comes from the river, and legend holds that the indigenous people who lived here preferred to jump into the gorge than be captured. Visitors can combine the valley with a visit to the town.
Common questions
- Why is Matanzas called the Athens of Cuba?
- Because its nineteenth-century wealth supported poets, newspapers, theatres and salons, giving the city a cultural reputation that lasted well into the twentieth century.
- What is the port code?
- It appears in the UNECE UN/LOCODE tables; check the current code there.
- What happened at the supertanker base in 2022?
- Lightning struck a fuel tank on 5 August 2022; the fire spread to neighbouring tanks and burned for several days. It remains one of the worst industrial accidents in Cuba.
- How far is Varadero?
- About thirty-five kilometres by road. The Via Blanca highway links Matanzas with the resort.
- Does the Hershey train still run?
- Part of the electric railway between Casablanca and Matanzas still operates with old carriages. Check the current timetable locally, since services change.
- Is this a commercial port site?
- No. It is an information page and does not provide port services.
Official sources and where to go next
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