Manaki Isnagi Tower
Cuba, Trinidad

Manaki Isnagi Tower is located on the west coast of the island of Cuba, 14 kilometers northwest of the city of Trinidad, in the Valley of Sugar factories (Valley de los Ingenios). The construction of the tower is attributed to Alejo Isnaga. Several legends are associated with the history of the appearance of this tower on the lands of the sugar plantation. According to one of them, the rich planter Isnaga promised to bequeath all the property to one of his sons, who would build a higher tower - in the confrontation of the two brothers Alejo and Pedro, in the end, Alejo defeated. Another legend says that the tower was built by Alejo to imprison his unfaithful wife, the third, on the contrary, talks about the great love of Alejo Isnaga for his beautiful wife, whom he, absent from home, could watch from the observation deck at the top of the tower. Most likely, everything was much more prosaic - the watchtower, built in 1816, was used to monitor slaves working on the sugar plantation, as well as to quickly alert local residents in case of fires, the approach of a hurricane from the sea or the landing of pirates on the shore. The 45-meter tower is built of clay bricks and a mixture of lime and sand, consists of seven levels - the three lower levels are square, the upper four are octagonal, a staircase consisting of 184 steps leads to the top of the tower. Three bells were installed on the top - the largest of them announced the beginning and end of the working day, the smallest one rang only on Easter, the middle one on other holidays. The simultaneous ringing of medium and large bells meant the flight of one of the slaves; in the event of a rebellion of slaves or mass exodus, they rang the small and large bells. If the sound of all three bells rang from the tower, it means that pirates landed on the shore. Nowadays, they climb the tower to admire the picturesque surroundings from a bird's eye view. From the upper platform you can see not only the Valley of Sugar factories, but also the city of Trinidad and the Caribbean coast. In 1978, the Manaki Isnagi Tower was declared a National Architectural and Historical Monument of Cuba, and in 1988, as part of the Valley of Sugar factories, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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