de parroquias y capillas que rinden fervor a santos y beatos cubanos, entre leyendas y reliquias. También su cementerio merece una parada, con epitafios que hablan de tradiciones y de versos isleños. Y es que Camagüey podría ser un soneto en sí misma, una rima asonante a unos metros del Caribe, cora-zón de una provincia que recoge uno de cada cuatro kilóme-tros de playas de Cuba. Con estos arenales, al trovador le basta para encontrar inspiración. The “tinajónes” are huge balloon-shaped clay pots that have been winding around the streets of the Cuban city of Camagüey since the Spanish colonial era. The pots were used to store rainwater, due to the severe droughts endured here centuries ago. Nowadays they’re a symbol of this lovely city whose historic centre was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO 15 years ago, in 2008. According to the local legend, whoever drinks from them will either return or stay here forever. “I kiss you with longing, almost with mystical anointing, because I believe that your drops are my mother’s, the tender tears you shed to see how much I love your heart, Camagüey” says the mythical poem El Tinajón by Camagüeyan poet Aurelia Castillo. What used to be the old and charming village of Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe, known as Camagüey since 1898, still retains that mysticism of an architectural legacy of tall bell towers and colourful buildings. Capital of a province of vast plains, surrounded by palm groves and two modestly-sized massifs, Sierra de Cubitas and Sierra de Najasa, its beaches and cays still reflect the history forged here in the past. Ernest Hemingway himself searched this coast for Nazi submarines during World War II, specifically in Cayo Romano, drawing on his experience in the posthumous-ly published novel Islands in the Stream. But the city of Camagüey is best known for its labyrinthine maze of narrow streets built by the Spaniards more than 500 years ago. It’s also known for the squares of Plaza de San Juan de Dios, Plaza del Carmen and the square dedicated to Cuban national military hero, Ignacio Agramonte, who was born here in the 19th century. The city’s many churches range from the Metropolitan Cathedral through to a multitude of parish churches and chapels devoted to Cuban saints and the bles-sed, with a wealth of legends and relics. The city’s cemetery deserves a visit to read epitaphs that speak of traditions and island verses. When all’s said and done, Camagüey could itself be a sonnet, a poem set just a few metres from the Caribbean, the heart of a province that accounts for one out of every four kilometres of Cuba’s beaches. Such stretches of sandy beaches are more than enough inspiration for a wandering minstrel. ENG © Marica van der Meer/ Getty Images Terrazas en el centro histórico. // Terrace bars in the historic centre. © Marica van der Meer/ Getty Images Bar El Cambio, famoso por sus mojitos. // El Cambio bar, famous for its mojitos.