Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, capital of the province of Cienfuegos.

It is located about 250 km (155 miles) from Havana, and has a population of 150,000. The city is dubbed "La Perla del Sur"(Pearl of the South). Cienfuegos literally translates to "Hundred fires".

Near the entrance to the Bahia de Cienfuegos (bahia meaning "bay") is Castillo de Jagua (full name Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Jagua), a fortress erected in the 1745 for protection against Caribbean pirates.

Cienfuegos, one of the chief seaports of Cuba, is a center of the sugar trade, as well as coffee and tobacco. While sugarcane is the chief crop, local farmers grow coffee.



Attractions

• Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles de Jagua - fortress
• Arco de Triunfo - the only Arco de Triunfo in Cuba
• Cathedral de la Purisma Conception - cathedral with stained glass work, built 1833-1869.
• Delfinario - dolphins and sea lions in a slatwater lagoon
• Jardín Botánico de Cienfuegos - 97 hectares of botanic garden
• Museo Provincial - furniture and porcelain museum
• Palacio de Valle - built 1913-1917 in neo-gothic style
• Palmira Yorubá Pantheon - museum of religious afro-catholoc syncretism
• Parque José Martí - park in Plaza de Armas
• University of Cienfuegos "Carlos Rafael Rodríguez" (UCF) - the province's secondary education institution.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/