CubaPLUS Magazine

A sort of multi-resonance memorial for Cubans and foreign visitors is the Birán Historical Complex, created from the birthplace of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, the place where he spent his earliest childhood with his parents and siblings.

Located in the very beautiful rural enclave of Birán, belonging to the Cueto municipality, today subordinated to the northeastern province of Holguín, this complex currently goes beyond the home of the Castro Ruz family, founded by the father of Galician origin, Ángel Castro Argiz, and by his Cuban and Pinar del Río mother, Lina Ruz. When contemplating the vast surroundings, where the owner of that efficient ranch exerted a notable and beneficent influence, the emigrant patriarch of the family, bought that land in 1915 and baptized his first farm with the name of Manaca. With an extension of 26 hectares, the complex had two of them dedicated to the facilities, while another 8 are planted with citrus fruits and the rest covered with forest, green grass or contain self-consumption areas.

The surrounding landscape is dominated by the heights of the Sierra de Nipe, a red earth plain endowed with beautiful pine forests, and the new community of Birán and the towns of Marcané and Cueto are nearby. The lands are fertile, rich in forest resources, inhabited by diverse fauna, and with a very rich mineral composition.

In response to the will expressed by Ángel Castro, in 1995 it was decided to move the family burial vault to the old hacienda, the place where today lie the remains of the parents, maternal grandparents of the Castro Ruz family rest.

Upon the triumph of the Revolution, Fidel fulfilled his promise to eliminate the large estates, through the first and second Agrarian Reform Laws. His father's property was not exempt from the rigors of that legislation that did so much justice to the humble peasant from the fields of the entire national territory.

After his father died in 1956, the family headed by the mother handed over the lands corresponding to the patrimony of the nation, which led to the disintegration of the old batey "Birán Castro" on the Manacas farm, to give rise to a broader construction program of homes, schools, health centers, which benefit all the residents of the environment.

In 1970, the community of Birán emerged, with more than 200 comfortable homes, and the special livestock plan on August 6 was founded, most of which belonged to the family patriarch. Open to the public since November 2, 2002, this historical complex guarantees the preservation of its buildings, as well as the collection of 1,175 objects that it treasures.

Declared a National Monument, visitors admire its 11 representative installations of vernacular wood architecture: among these are the birthplace of the Castro-Ruz family, second family home, grandmother's house, hotel, school and teacher's house, mechanics and cart workshop, fence of roosters, butcher shop, mail and telegraphs and five huts of Haitians and barracks.