Pinar del Río is located at the west end of the country. Two of its multiple attributes would be enough to call the attention of visitors who have just arrived in the island: El Valle de Viñales (Valley of Viñales), Cultural Landscape of Mankind; and the fact that the lands of Vueltabajo produce the best tobacco of the world.
This portion of the Cuban territory was named New Philippines by mid 1770's, but it was given its current name in 1778 (corresponding to the oldest town). It is the only place with two Reserves of the Biosphere within provincial limits: Sierra del Rosario and the Península of Guanahacabibes.
This mountainous region and Sierra de los Órganos constitute the extensive Cordillera de Guaniguanico, which concentrates the most notable landscape and biological richness of the region. Pan de Guajaibón (699 meters above sea level) is the highest mountain of all the western region of the largest of the Antilles.
|