Vinales - City of Cuba

Viñales is a small town and municipality in the north-central Pinar del Rio Province of Cuba.

The town consists mostly of one story wooden houses with porches.

The municipality is dominated by low mountain ranges of Cordillera de Guaniguanico such as Sierra de los Órganos. Typical outcrops known as mogotes complete the karstic character of the landscape.

Prior to European settlement, the area had been the home of a remnant Taíno population swelled with runaway slaves.

The area was colonised at the beginning of the 1800s by tobacco growers from the Canary Islands, who settled in the Vuelta Abajo region.

The first settlement in Viñales is documented in 1871, in the form of a ranch belonging to Don Andrés Hernández Ramos.

The town was established in 1878 as a typical community, with church, school, hospital and recreation park.

Tourism centered on the Viñales Valley is developing, the area being protected by constitution since February 1976, and declared a national monument in October 1978. The Viñales Valley has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since November 1999, for the outstanding karst landscape and traditional agriculture as well as vernacular architecture, crafts and music.

Attractions in Viñales include the Museo Municipal, Casa de Caridad Botanical Gardens, Museo Paleontológico, Palenque and the nearby caves in Valle de Viñales National Park, which were refuges for runaway slaves. There is also a cave which doubles as a nightclub.

Casas particulares offer accommodations to visitors year-round. There are also three hotels located a few kilometers outside of town, rated three stars: La Ermita, Los Jazmines, and Rancho Horizontes San Vicente. The campismo Dos Hermanas comprises 54 cabins , a swimming pool and restaurant.