Isla de la Juventud, Special municipality island in western Cuba.
Isla de la Juventud is a special municipality on Cuba's second-largest island in the Caribbean Sea, southwest of the main island. The flat, forested landmass features wide areas of pine trees, while the coastline shows dark sand and coral reefs.
Spanish colonizers once called the area Isla de Pinos, a name referring to the dense pine forests. After Hurricane Alma in 1966, thousands of students helped with reconstruction, which led to renaming it Isla de la Juventud.
The Presidio Modelo prison near Nueva Gerona, now transformed into a museum, represents a significant period of Cuban political incarceration from 1926 onwards.
From Havana, a ferry departs from Batabanó port to the island, or a plane connects the capital with Vilo Acuña Airport near Nueva Gerona. Most visitors organize lodging in the island's main town, where restaurants and services are also located.
In the caves of Punta del Este in the southeast, red and black wall paintings from pre-Columbian times show geometric patterns on limestone. Scholars estimate these works are over 800 years old and were made by Taíno inhabitants.
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