Dos Hermanas in Viñales, Pinar del Río, Cuba — Occidental Region (Caribbean Region of the Americas)
The Mural of the Prehistory
Photographed by Shaw Zavoshy, March 29, 2023
1. The Mural of the Prehistory Marker
The Mural, one of the largest in the world, represents the life of the first inhabitants of the Cuban archipelago. During the early days of 1959, Dr. Antonio Núñez Jimenez told Fidel Castro about his visits to these mountains where had been found fossils of fish, a skull of a big saurian and evidence of the aboriginal settlements found in local caves. This talk led the idea of a pictorial mural on the wall of this mogote. On September 6 the work was carried out to clean the rock.
Painting began in March 1960, and it lasted four years. The Cuban painter Leovigildo Gonzalez Murillo, who had studied with the great Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, was chosen for the task. The painting has a surface area of 80 meters in height and 120 meters in length and the lines were drawn by farmers of the locality who, hanging by strong ropes, were attached to parachute harnesses and directed from the ground by the painter by means of a microphone and using binoculars.
The Megalocnus, Plesiosaurus, the Ammonites and the other figures describe the evolution of the life in Cuba, that was set down for the posterity
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Paleontology. A significant historical month for this entry is March 1960.
Location. 22° 37.139′ N, 83° 44.524′ W. Marker is in Viñales, Pinar del Río. It is in Dos Hermanas. It can be reached from Valle de Dos Hermanas 1.6 kilometers north of Carretera Intramontaña del Moncada, on the left. Touch for map. Touch for directions.
Regionally, it is one of the Greater Antilles on the Caribbean Sea, on in the Atlantic Ocean, in North America, in a Gulf of Mexico country, and in the Western Hemisphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also a Spanish colony.
More about this marker. The marker is about 80 yards to the southeast of the mural.
Also see . . . Viñales Mural de la Prehistoria (Atlas Obscura).
Overview: THE VIÑALES MURAL DE LA PREHISTORIA is the work of the former Director of Mapping at the Cuban Academy of Sciences, Leovigildo González Morillo. A master of neo-caveman(Submitted on April 6, 2023.)artistry, Morillo undertook the massive project of portraying world history up until the age of humans on a rock wall in the Viñales Valley.Photographed by Shaw Zavoshy, March 29, 20232. The Mural of the PrehistorySpanning from early mollusks and other ancient sea-organisms, the rock face mural moves through the age of the dinosaurs, and ends with three giant red human figures. Both lauded as brilliant in its simplicity, and decried as an eyesore, it has taken a massive effort from the community to maintain the mural after the death of its creator. - Atlas Obscura
Credits. This page was last revised on April 17, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 6, 2023, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 991 times since then and 135 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 6, 2023, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
