Turquino National Park, also called Sierra Maestra National Park, is a national park located in the Sierra Maestra mountain range in southeastern Cuba. It was established on 8 January 1980 with the passing of Bill 27/1980. It is named after Pico Turquino, the highest point in Cuba.
Geography The park is located in the Sierra Maestra mountain range about west of Guamá in Santiago de Cuba Province. It encompasses a total area of .
Among the mountains within the park are Pico Turbino, the highest point in Cuba at , Pico Cuba, Pico Real, and Pico Suecia. There are also numerous waterfalls and rivers, including the Río Turquino, as well as Marea del Portillo beach on Cuba's southeastern coast.
Flora and fauna
The park has tropical forest habitats, including the lower elevation Cuban moist forests and higher elevation Cuban pine forests ecoregions. It also has "some of the best-preserved cloud forests in the Caribbean".
Turquino and the adjoining Pico La Bayamesa National Park were together designated the Turquino - Bayamesa Important Bird Area. The bird species that qualified them for that status are the: Note: Species in italics are non-resident.
Cuban green woodpecker giant kingbird white-crowned pigeon Key West quail-dove blue-headed quail-dove Cuban emerald hummingbird great lizard cuckoo black-capped petrel Cuban pygmy owl bare-legged owl Gundlach's hawk Cuban trogon, Cuba's national bird Cuban tody Fernandina's flicker West Indian woodpecker Cuban pewee Loggerhead kingbird La Sagra's flycatcher Cuban vireo Cuban crow Cuban solitaire Bicknell's thrush Oriente warbler Hispaniolan oriole Cuban blackbird Greater Antillean grackle Western spindalis Cuban bullfinch Cuban grassquit grey-fronted quail-dove
Other animal species include the Cuban hutia, a large rodent, as well as several species of bats.
Cuban Revolution La Comandancia de la Plata, Fidel Castro's headquarters during the Cuban Revolution, was located in what is now the park.
Operation Verano, Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista's 1958 attempt to destroy Castro's greatly outnumbered guerrilla band, which Castro had deployed west of Pico Turquino along a front. Its failure demoralized Batista's army.
Bust A bronze bust of national hero José Martí (1853–1895), sculpted by Jilma Madera, rests on Pico Turbino.
See also National parks of Cuba Geography of Santiago de Cuba Province
References
External links