The Hill of
the Cross (Loma de la Cruz)
This
is the best known place in the city and perhaps the most representative. A
natural skyline for the city. You can get to the top by car, but the best
way is to climb up the 458 steps from the base. On May 3rd 1790, the Fray
Francisco Antonio de Alegría placed a wooden cross at the very top of the
hill. For years it was the site of pilgrimages and more recently it has been
the site for the Romerías de Mayo, a popular festival that brings together
tradition and modernity.

Here is the beginning of the monumental
stairway, where you start climbing. Do not forget to take water with
you...you will need it! And do not leave your hat away either.
This
fort is at the top, in the center of a rotunda and lookout. Now you can seat
and enjoy the panoramic view of
the city while catching back your breath. But hey...it is worthy!
If you say that you have been in Holguin
but did not climb the Hill of the Cross, any Holguinian will tell you that
you do not know the city.
Historians
say that the drawings for the city - which is famous for the straightness of
its main roads - were made from the top of this hill in 1752.

This is part of the view you will get.
When you walk to the right you will see the famous wooden cross, raised here
to commemorate the day on which bits of wood from the cross of Calvary were
found.

There are snack bars and a restaurant
at the top. And if you are too tired to walk downstairs it is easy to get a
taxi to take you down.
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