Historic Centre of Cienfuegos
The Historic Centre of Cienfuegos, is located in the city of Cienfuegos in Cuba. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, because of its outstanding Neoclassical architecture architecture and its status as the best example of early 19th century Spanish urban planning. The historic centre contains six buildings from 1819–50, 327 buildings from 1851–1900, and 1188 buildings from the 20th century. History. While visited by Columbus in 1494, the area was first settled by pirates and freebooters beginning in the 1600s. Early settlers, often referred to as "buccaneers", raised cattle and made jerky  to supply to the privateers and others who sought refuge in the bay. By 1740 they were raising tobacco as well. In 1742 King Philip V of Spain built Fort Jagua to suppress the pirates' use of Cienfuegos Bay. The city was formally founded on 22 April 1819 by French and Spanish settlers under the command of Don Luis De Clouet y Favrot. The streets were laid out essentially north-south, east-west, forming square blocks. Today, the city centre still retains eclectic architecture from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, much with neoclassical decoration. Historic Centre of Cienfuegos The