Monday, 20 June 2011 17:00
Virgen de Regla - Yemayá. Photo by L.Calvo
Regla is my hometown, so I apologize in advance if you feel a certain passion in this article about the smallest municipality on the whole island; although it is small, it has the second most economic weight within the Havana Province, and is rich in history, values and traditions of all kinds.
It´s origins are linked to the establishment of the Guaicanamar (which in the indigenous language means "in front of the sea") sugar mill and the chapel´s construction in 1573, which led to the Our Lady of Regla Shrine, the virgin proclaimed in 1714 as Havana´s Bay protector; and she goes along with "Yemayá," a divinity who is part of Yoruba mythology. It´s one of the most adored divinities in Cuba, after the National Patroness, the Caridad de Cobre Virgin.
Currently, as before, many from Regla are dedicated to sea-related labors, fishermen, seafarers or port workers, maintaing a worker/partier spirit. Regla is also famous among those in the capital and foreigners for its highly irregular topography, and its quaint "lanchitas," small boats, in which since the nineteenth century, have dramatically shortened the transit time between the city and village. Although, they are no longer small and wooden, but large and metal—more than splitting the sea, they seem to crush it.
Also, great professional baseball figures such as Gilberto Torres and René Arocha were born in Regla, and umpires such as renowned Amado Maestri. And if we´re talking about a culturally popular exponent of Regla, "Los Guaracheros de Regla," must be mentioned, as they are a multi-award winning group in Cuba and abroad, one of the Veracruz carnival´s attractions.
So if you visit Havana, get moving and board on of those memorable boats, or go by road, because you can´t miss this unique Havana community.
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