Ciego de Ávila History
Ciego de Ávila is located in a plain of approximately 6900 sq km (2664 sq mi) of extension. Cattle, sugar cane, and vegetable products are its main natural resources. Linked to the rest of the nation through the Carretera Central, Ciego de Ávila is 442 km (276 mi) away from Havana and possesses modern buildings, hotels, and local industries.
The town was founded in 1840 having at the time 263 inhabitants. In 1877, was created the municipal government and the city became independent from the city of Morón.
Ciego de Ávila gains importance when the Spanish army built a fortified military line, known as Trocha de Jucaro a Morón, to impede the pass of insurrectionist forces to the western part of the island during the War of Independence (1895-1898). Nevertheless, this “trocha”, which made this region famous and was thought to be strong enough to stop the Cuban forces, was not able to stop the pass of General Máximo Gómez and several hundreds of men.
