History
Mayabeque was created on August 1, 2010 when the National Assembly of Cuban People's Power agreed to modify the political-administrative division, approving the creation of the Mayabeque and Artemisa provinces based on the segmentation of the old Havana province. The first founding site of Villa San Cristóbal de La Habana was found in the territory in 1514, later transferred to the north coast to the port of Carenas. Although there is a discrepancy among historians regarding the exact location, it is believed that one of the most probable sites is the center of the old Hato de San Pedro de Mayabeque, currently bordering between the Melena del Sur and Güines municipalities.
From this southern point the Hernán Cortes expedition left for the conquest of Mexico. Despite the transfer of the town to the north coast, the original settlement of Spaniards and mestizos in haciendas and settlements remained in part in this region. The first population established in the territory, which lasts until today, is Batabanó which served as the southern port of the town for cabotage navigation to the southern and eastern towns of the country. Read more...
In the 18th century, the towns of Güines (parish in 1690, town in 1769), Bejucal (city, 1714) and Quivicán (1770), Jaruco (settlement since 1635, county city by royal title in 1768), Melena del Sur ( 1768) and San José de las Lajas (1778). Already in the 19th century, Santa Cruz del Norte (1800), Nueva Paz (1802), Madruga (1803) and San Nicolás (1827) were founded. The growth of the important town of Güines, furrowed by the Mayabeque River, was associated with the prosperity of the sugar industry. The Ingenio Alejandría was built here, the first sugar mill moved with hydraulic energy and whose ruins are today a National Monument. In 1837, the first railway in Cuba and Latin America was built between Havana and Bejucal, anticipating the same metropolis in 6 years. In Bejucal the station of this period is conserved still in operation, in which a museum currently resides.