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Popular characters in the Historic Center of Camaguey

 

 

On October 10, 1978, the city of Camaguey was declared a National Monument. Its historic center is one of the largest in the country, with 330.9 hectares and with more than 9000 buildings, 50% of them with historical, environmental architectural value.


The Historic Center of Camaguey is the largest in Cuba and is characterized by buildings with marked Hispanic-Arabic features. Many of the buildings and colonial houses have beautiful gardens hidden in their inner courtyards. Other characteristics of the old part of the city are the narrow and labyrinthine streets that bend over themselves and the many churches and public squares.


In 1997, with Decree 213 of the State Council, the Office of the Historian of the City of Camaguey was created, subordinated to the Council of the Provincial Administration of Camaguey. Its functions and powers are established. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2008.


The Office of the Conservator of Camaguey conceives each restoration plan as a great community sociocultural project, in which researchers, representatives of the artistic avant-garde of the city, restoration specialists and, mainly, the inhabitants of the area participate.


An example of these projects is the Community Workshop of the El Carmen neighborhood, located in the Historic Center of the City. Since 2002 there is a community experience that involves physical and social transformation, and the rescue of traditions, to stimulate new ways of acting and thinking of all its inhabitants.


The neighborhood of El Carmen is one of the best exponents of the colonial architecture of Camaguey. In its surroundings there are samples of architectural value: the Church of Our Lady of Carmen, a square of the same name and two cloisters, which characterize the area since its inception. It also prevails traditions and customs that identify it.


In this he has given a special treatment to his popular characters, by placing them in the Plaza. They constantly interact with all the visitors of the place. The sculptress Marta Jimenez has recreated the presence of the Gossipers, the Water carrier, the Newspaper reader and the Couple in love.


They constitute a representation of life itself. We all see everyday reality represented in them. They constitute a sample of identity exposed in the public space.


Source: http://www.habanaradio.cu