Matanzas

Province of western Cuba, bounded by La Habana province to the west, and Cienfuegos and Villa Clara to the east, between the Gumuri and San Juan rivers; area 8,443 sq km/3,259 sq mi; population (1993) 123,843. The province is largely mountainous and the rivers Yumuri, San Juan, Palma, and Sagua flow through it. In the south is the great swamp Gran Cienaga Occidental de Zapata. The principal crops are sugar, cereals, fruit, cotton, and tobacco. The provincial capital is the city of Matanzas on the north coast.

The province attracted many poets and artists in the 19th century, earning the city of Matanzas the nickname ‘the Athens of Cuba’. The name of the town means both ‘massacre’, a reference to an Indian massacre in the 16th century, and ‘meat market’, a reference to the production of salt meat for which Matanzas is famous.