In 1856, the brothers Lorenzo and Antonio Soroa Muñagorry bought the coffee plantation La Merced and later, they bought other three: Neptuno, San Luis, and San Ramón de Aguas Claras. This fact motivated that, in time, the region was named after the owners of the whole of it. However, the zone does not owe its famous condition to the Soroa brothers, but to the abrupt character of its nature, which provoked in turn that other wealthy men decided to settle there.
In 1940, the "Castillo de las Nubes" (castle of the clouds) was build over the hill of El Fuerte. The rich landowner Antonio Arturo Sánchez Bustamante had this medieval construction built no matter the expenses. Inside this castle, several items bought in European auctions and having belonged to real medieval castles are carefully preserved. From its front terrace, one can enjoy a magnificent view of the Sierra del Rosario and the beautiful southern plains of Pinar del Río. Nowadays, it serves as a restaurant.
In 1952, Tomás Felipe Camacho, a lawyer hailing from the Canary Islands, started to conform a garden near his "Pinilla" Ranch to honor his wife and daughter. This peculiar garden was composed only by Orchids and for this reason, he cultivated many autochthonous species and imported exotic ones from Asia, Central America, and South America. Known nowadays as the orchid-growing facility of Soroa, it treasures in its 35 000 sq meters more than 20 000 specimens and 700 different species of this coveted flower. It is the largest of its kind in Cuba and one of the most important of the globe.
