Sancti Spíritus has the privilege of being the only city on the Cuban archipelago in which two of the first seven villas were founded by Spanish governor Diego Velázquez in the 16th century: that of the Espíritu Santo and Trinidad. Both were established in 1514, and one of the 14 provinces into which the Republic of Cuba is divided took its name from the first one: Sancti Spíritus. It’s a region of clayey and fertile soil, 15% of which is covered by one of the country’s most important mountain chains, the Escambray Mountain Range, which has, among its attributes, calm Caribbean beaches surrounding the Ancón Peninsula.
Its capital city, Sancti Spíritus, preserves, in its historical central area, buildings that reveal the diversity of styles that for three centuries notably enriched its complicated urban framework, among which the Major Parochial Church, the Principal Theater, and the bridge over the Yayabo River, are the most outstanding.