Plaza Mayor (Trinidad)

The Plaza Mayor in Trinidad, Cuba, is the historic centre of the town, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. The buildings surrounding the plaza (central square) date from the 18th and 19th centuries when trade in sugar from the nearby Valle de los Ingenios and the slave trade brought great riches to the area. Many of the buildings surrounding the plaza belonged to the wealthy landowners of the city. When the trade in sugar diminished and the slave trade ended in the mid-19th century, Trinidad became a backwater and little building work occurred until the 1950s. As a result, many of the historic buildings and streets were preserved, especially the grand colonial edifices in the immediate vicinity of the Plaza Mayor. Today, most of the former houses surrounding the square serve to house museums.