Matanzas

**Matanzas** is the caipital o the Cuban province o Matanzas. It is famit for its poets, cultur, an Afro-Cuban fowklore.

It is locatit on the northren shore o the island o Cuba, on the Bay o Matanzas (Spaingie: *Bahia de Matanzas*),  east o the caipital Havana an  wast o the resort toun o Varadero.

Matanzas is cried the "Ceety o Brigs," o which thare are seiventeen crossin the three rivers that traverse the ceety (Rio Yumuri, San Juan, an Canimar). For this raison it wis referred tae as the "Venice o Cuba." It wis cried "La Atenas de Cuba" ("The Athens o Cuba") for its poets.

## History
Matanzas wis foondit in 1693  as *San Carlos y San Severino de Matanzas*.  This follaeed a ryal decree ("*real cédula*") issued on 25 September 1690 which decreed that the bay an port o Matanzas be settled bi 30 faimilies frae the Canary Islands.

Matanzas wis ane o the regions that saw intensive development o succar plantations durin the colonial era. Consequently, mony African slaves wur importit tae support the succar industry, pairticularly durin the first hauf o the nineteent century. For ensaumple, in 1792 thare wur 1900 slaves in Matanzas, roughly 30% o its population. In 1817, the sclave population o Matanzas haed grown tae 10,773, comprisin nearly 50% o the oweraw population. Bi 1841, 53,331 slaves made up 62.7% o the population o Matanzas. Census figurs for 1859 put the Matanzas sclave population at 104,519. Matanzas wis the steid o several sclave insurrections an plots, includin the infamous *Escalera* conspiracy (discovered in late 1843). Due tae the heich nummer o baith slaves an, importantly, free Afro-Cubans in Matanzas, the retention o African tradeetions is especially strang thare. In 1898, Matanzas became the location o the first action in the Spaingie-American War. The ceety wis bombardit bi American Navy vessels on 25 Aprile 1898, juist efter the beginnin o the war.

### Name oreegin

The name Matanzas means "" an refers tae a putative slaughter at the port o the same name in which 30 Spaingie sodgers wur crossin ane o the rivers tae attack an aboriginal camp on the far shore. The Spainyie sodgers didna hae ony boats, sae thay enleetit the help o some native fishermen. Housomeivver, ance thay reached the middle o the river, the fishermen flipped the boats, an due tae the Spainyie sodgers' hivy metal airmour, maist o them drouned. Anly twa weemen—ane said tae be the bonnie María de Estrada—survivit, the result o bein "taken" bi a Cacique. De Estrada is said tae hae later escapit the "pouer o the Cacique" an marriet Pedro Sánchez Farfán in the ceety o Trinidad. Frae 1900 tae the 1950s Portuguese descendants muivit tae Cuba acause o the haurd times an thay plantit thairsels in Matanzas tae live big thair faimilies. Acause o this chynge tae Cuba's atmosphere, the toun chyngit an fowk spoke Portuguese an Spaingie, some no aw, but that wis the wey o the toun an tae this day it is still strang.

## Geografie

The ceety is locatit on the north shore o the island o Cuba, on aw three sides o the Bay o Matanzas. The bay cuts deep in the island, an three rivers flow in the bay inside ceety leemits (Rio Yumuri, San Juan, an Canimar). Tae the sooth-east, the landscape rises intae a hill cried *Pan de Matanzas*, dividit frae the Atlantic coast bi the Yumuri Valley an a coastal rig.

The ceety o Matanzas is dividit intae three neebourheids: Versalles, Matanzas, an Pueblo Nuevo. The municipality is dividit intae the barrios o Bachicha, Bailén, Barracones, Bellamar, Camarioca, Cárcel, Ceiba Mocha, Colón, Corral Nuevo, Guanábana, Ojo de Agua, Refugio, San Luis, San Severino, Simpson y Monserrate, Versalles an Yumurí.

## Infrastructur
;Transportation
Matanzas is servit bi Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport, 15&nbsp;km east o the ceety.

The ceety haes twa railwey stations.  The main station is on the main line frae Havana tae Santiago de Cuba.  The electrifee'd Hershey train operates bi a different route tae Havana frae a separate station in the barrio o Versalles.

Matanzas is servit bi Viazul an Astro buses an aw.

The Via Blanca heich-gate connects the ceety wi baith Havana in the wast an Varadero in the east.
;Eddication
The Varsity o Matanzas is the province's seicontar eddication institution.

## Further readin
* Miguel A. Bretos. *Matanzas: The Cuba Nobody Knows* (University Press o Florida; 2010) 317 pages; combines scholarly an personal perspectives in a history o Matanzas, a ceety that wis kent as the "Athens of Cuba" during a succar boom o the 19t century.

## References

## Freemit airtins

*Ciudad de Matanzas  - Sitio con amplia información sobre la Ciudad de Matanzas, desde la fundación de la ciudad hasta la actualidad  
*:es:Matanzas (Cuba)