The monument that marks the cultural encounter between Spaniards and Cuban aborigines, located in Bariay National Park, in the municipality of Rafael Freyre of Holguín province, is undergoing the restoration of several of its structures in order to return the splendor of this patrimonial site to its former glamour.
Admiral Christopher Columbus landed there on October 28, 1492, and to perpetuate the event the sculptural complex was inaugurated on the same date in 1992, in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the event, based on an idea of then Minister of Culture Armando Hart Dávalos.
Mirna Riverón Muñoz, a specialist in charge of the work, told that this investment is one of the actions undertaken in the territory for the celebrations of July 26, National Rebellion Day, and among the main works are the repair of the idols and the columns with neoclassical style capitals, present in the mausoleum.
External factors such as the ocean breeze and saltpeter had an impact on the deterioration of the pieces, made with fiberglass and supported by steel rings, so it has been necessary to reconstruct some gods as the frog idol, she explained.
For that reason, she said, they also work with resin, for which technicians and specialists participate in its use, and confirmed that it has been necessary the total repair of the arches, for which the supports were melted in cement and were taken to the work with saving time and resources.
This obelisk is conceived in two geometric forms, a white triangle of imposing columns with worked capitals on the sides, representative of 15th century Europe, said Roberto Alemany Sinté, museologist of the site.
He underlined that the piece, in addition, enters a circle formed by gods, work instruments and utilitarian objects of the Arawak Tainos who inhabited the geographical area and recreates the interaction between the Old Continent and the American New World.
The sculptural work has as distinctive elements the cemí Baibrama and the idol of the cigar, which in the aboriginal cosmology represented life and crops, respectively, and among its authors is outstanding artist Caridad Ramos from Santiago de Cuba.
Since 1937, scientists from all over the world agree that this Cuban site, which united the history and culture of two continents, is the same Port of San Salvador described by Columbus in his Navigation Diary.
Currently, the Bariay National Monument Park is a protected natural area where you can appreciate the hills of Maniabón, with gentle slopes and lush vegetation that descend to the plains, with abundant coconut trees, making excursion tourism the main attraction of the place.
With information from Eileen Esther Molina Fernández – ACN / Translated by Radio Angulo.
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