CubaPLUS Magazine

Little is said about this set of hills and yet it leaves no one indifferent. The Sierra de las Damas, hills of calcareous origin, practically divided in two by the course of the Zaza River, the second largest in the country, is located in the rural municipality of Cabaiguán, in the central Cuban province of Sancti Spíritus.

Both the beauty of the place and its history made it classify as a local monument site. It deserves great recognition for having housed during the Libertarian War of 1995, the supreme headquarters of Major General Serafín Sánchez Valdivia, a great Mambí chief. Also, among his contributions to Creole ethnology, is the Legend of the Red Man, a mythical character given to the imaginary of the area. Why the nickname Las Damas? No one talks about that... that we know of. Precise geographic coordinates place it at the eastern end of the subregion identified as the Central Hilly Plain, in the upper part of the Zaza del Medio river basin, located about 9 km north of the community of Guayos and 12 km from Cabaiguán.

Original elevations, between 50 to 131 meters in average height, occupy an area of 120 hectares. Massive limestone from the Cretaceous, belonging to the Isabel Formation, animates its structure, showing areas of great paleontological relief, within which it appears. In the said cavern, remains of fossil fauna from the Quaternary period (extinct jutías) were found, and in the rocks, there are fossils of various types of rudist, coastal marine animals from the Cretaceous.

As for the so-called cut or division traced by the current of the Zaza River, this circumstance has produced enormous water deposits (puddles) and wells, carved in the stones. According to scholars, the geological, geomorphological, karstic, and speleological structures are unique in the nation, since they have varied terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, which demand further scientific research, which will undoubtedly be done. A good part remains without anthropogenic alteration, inside the Sierra de Las Damas, at the base of a cliff located to the northwest of the La Herradura pool. However, there is an industry of carved stone, manufacturing pieces of medium to small dimensions. Archaeological elements of the remains of aboriginal communities called proto-agricultural have been found in that region. They are evidence of ceramic fragments that have been collected in the three cores found.

The treasure of its varied fauna is one of the most valued. It is a kind of exclusive sanctuary for birds, especially migratory ones. Among the terrestrial animals or bush climbers, there are beautiful specimens of the commonly called Cuban jutía, as well as the Santamaría majá, also living in the area, jubos, chipojos, and bats. None harmful or poisonous.