There are more than 400 steps. One by one they lead you to it. Then you arrive and find it stunning, watching, in its place nothing escapes her. At her feet everyone is, some watch, others freeze it in a snapshot that may land on a table or on the door of a refrigerator, are those who kneel in supplication and whisper begs and promises.
While the candles melt at the altar, more than one visitor contemplates the city she seems to dominate. Holguin is a bunch of tiny squares from the Loma de la Cruz, that’s why people get carried away with the climbing, because nobody wants to miss the breeze, the view, or the Cross that grants wishes.
There is no Holguin without its mystical summit, and neither is without its famous Romerias (Pilgrimage). In May , a crowd populates the streets at all times , and the former Cerro Bayado is at his old place, letting them walk over him, custodian of all , symbol of a legend , keeper of untold secrets.
1. La Loma de la Cruz was known as Cerro Bayado, and from May 3, 1790 adopted its current name
2. At the beginning of the known May Festival youngsters leads the traditional climbing
3. No matter the height or the sweltering heat, everyone comes to be part of the centuries-old tradition
4. The first cross was piggybacked by Fray Francisco Antonio de Alegria, who started the religious tradition called the Pilgrimage of the Cross
5. The symbol of the city of Holguin has 464 steps and is 261 meters high
![The cross we see today was built in Caguairán tree, as the 1790 original](http://www.oncubanews.com/wmag/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/foto-10.jpg)
1. From there, the entire city
2. Faith drives devotees to the summit to fulfill their promises
3. To this day comes a tradition that is defended by each Holguin inhabitant as faithful heritage
4. Here the requests and promises remain through offerings
5. From 1790 to date there have been three crosses guarding the top
![It’s almost a must for the visitor to the city](http://www.oncubanews.com/wmag/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/foto-13.jpg)
![It has been declared a Historic Monument of Colonial Archaeology of the Cuban nation](http://www.oncubanews.com/wmag/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/foto-14.jpg)
Author
![Lisandra Díaz Padrón](http://www.oncubanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Lisandra-Díaz-Padrón_avatar.jpg)