In 1514, Trinidad became the third settlement to be founded in Cuba by Diego Valazquez, as a base for exploiting the surrounding mountains for gold. But its heyday came in the first half of the 19C, when it was one of Cuba’s most important centres for the slave trade and sugarcane industry. On the left with the yellow bell tower is the Museo Nacional de la Lucha Contra Bandidos in the Old Town; in the centre is the abandoned Ermita de Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria de la Popa church; and on the right are the wooded Sierra del Escambray Mountains.