Camagüey
—  Municipality  —
Location of Camagüey in Cuba
Coordinates: 21°23′2″N 77°54′27″W / 21.38389°N 77.9075°W / 21.38389; -77.9075Coordinates: 21°23′2″N 77°54′27″W / 21.38389°N 77.9075°W / 21.38389; -77.9075
Country	Cuba
Province	Camagüey
Area[1]
• Total	1,106 km2 (427 sq mi)
Elevation	95 m (312 ft)
Population (2004)[2]
• Total	324,921
• Density	293.8/km2 (761/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	+53-322

Historic Centre of Camagüey *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	Cuba
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iv, v
Reference	1270
Region **	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription	2008 (32nd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Camagüey is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third largest city. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. After almost continuous attacks from pirates the original city (founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe around 1515 on the northern coast) was moved inland in 1528. The new city was built with a confusing lay-out of winding alleys that made it easier to defend it from any raiders. There are many blind alleys and forked streets that lead to squares of different sizes. There is only one exit from the city; should pirates ever return and succeed in entering the city, the hope was that the local inhabitants would be able to entrap and kill them.

In July 2008, the old town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Culture[link]

The clay pots in Camagüey

The symbol of the city of Camagüey is the clay pot or tinajón, used to capture rain water to be used later, keeping it fresh. Clay pots are everywhere, some as small as a hand, some large enough for two people to stand up in, either as monuments or for real use. Local legend has it that if you drink water from a girl's personal tinajón, you will fall in love with the girl and never leave her.

The main secondary education institutions are the University of Camagüey & the Instituto Pedagógico de Camagüey.

Demographics[link]

The statue of Ignacio Agramonte

In 2004, the municipality of Camagüey had a population of 324,921.^[2] With a total area of 1,106 km² (427 sq mi),^[1] it has a population density of 293.8 /km² (761 /sq mi).

Notable residents[link]

Camagüey is the birthplace of Ignacio Agramonte (1841), an important figure of the Ten Years' War against Spain in 1868–1878. Agramonte drafted the first Cuban Constitution in 1869, and later, as a Major General, formed the fearsome Camagüey cavalry corps that had the Spaniards on the run. He died in combat on May 11, 1873; his body was burned in the city because the Spanish feared the rebels would attack the city to recover his body.

The outline of Ignacio Agramonte's horseback statue in the Park that bears his name is a symbol of Camagüey. It was set there in 1911, uncovered by his widow, Amalia Simoni.

The Plaza of the Revolution features a bronze Agramonte standing followed by his troops.

The city is the birthplace of Major League Baseball Hall-of-Fame member Atanasio Perez Rigal (Tony Perez), who won two World Series titles with the Cincinnati Reds and was the 1967 All Star Game MVP.

The city is also the birthplace of the Cuban national poet Nicolás Guillén; also of Carlos J. Finlay, an outstanding physician and scientist, who first identified the Aedes aegyptis mosquito as the vector of the Yellow Fever.

Camagüey is also the hometown of volleyball player Mireya Luis, Gertrudis Gomes de Avellanada (poet), Silvestre de Balboa (1563–1649, writer), Salvador Cisneros Betancourt, Marqués de Santa Lucia (Cuban patriot, signatory of the Guaimaro Constitution of 1869 and President of the Cuban Republic in Arms).

Father José Olallo Valdés worked there, and was beatified in the city on November 29, 2008.

Infrastructure[link]

Street layout

The old city layout resembles a real maze, with narrow, short streets always turning in a direction or another. After Henry Morgan burned the city in the 17th century, it was designed like a maze so attackers would find it hard to move around inside the city.

Airports

Camagüey has its own international airport, Ignacio Agramonte International Airport. Most tourists going to or leaving the Beach of Santa Lucía do so through the airport.

Education[link]

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Máximo Gómez Báez's Statue, traditional photo

Institute of Secondary Education

Although it is not the only high school in the City, the Pre-Universitario, sometimes referred to as "Vocational School" but formally known as "Instituto Pre-Universitario Vocacional de Ciencias Exactas" (IPVCE)Maximo Gomez Baez es:Instituto Preuniversitario Vocacional de Ciencias Exactas - or, in English, Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences Maximo Gomez Baez- is the largest of its kind in the province of Camagüey.

To be admitted into the IPVCE, students must take an entrance exam after completing the preparation of the Basic Secondary Education (7th to 9th grade). During the following 3 years they receive intensive preparation in order to gain acceptance to College.

The size of the institution qualifies it as a "learning city".

The students, during the three years period (10th to 12th grade), are influenced by bonds of brotherhood and learning that last a lifetime.

This center is homologous to others existing in the rest of the country's provinces. Students certainly form bonds of friendship that endure for a lifetime. However, on the downside, family bonds could be broken and "traditional" moral attitudes suffer as teenagers spend weeks away from their family.

In Camagüey City, there are other high schools, as well as schools for athletes ( ESPA, and EIDE ), for artists ( The School of Art ), and the Military High School "Camilo Cienfuegos" ( also known as "Camilitos", in honor of Camilo Cienfuegos, hero of the Cuban Revolution ).

The University of Camagüey, is located in the city, with engineering and basic and humanitarian sciences programs. There are separate university colleges for Medical education (Carlos J Finlay UNiversity of Medical Science) and Pedagogical Science.

• 

  Nuestra Señora de la Soledad Church

• 

  San Francisco Church and Cándido González Stadium

• 

  Puerto del Príncipe being sacked in 1668

• 

  "Guarandinga" (horse cart).

• 

  Minas,Camaguey province.

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  Ignacio Agramonte Square

• 

  Camagueys Baseball Stadium

• 

  A classic car in Camaguey

References[link]

External links[link]

Cuba portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Camagüey

• Camagüey, Cuba: Essays, monographs, legends, poems, images
• Madison-Camagüey Sister City Association
• Links to sites offering Casa Particular in Camaguey
• Camaguey City Map
• Historic Centre of Camagüey by UNESCO
• Camagüey Pays Homage to Maceo and Che June 15, 2009
• Medicine & Health Anniversaries related to Camaguey by Camagüeyanos
• The most important Camaguey Beach

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Ignacio Agramonte
Statue of Ignacio Agramonte on the Plaza de Revolución in Camagüey
Born	December 23, 1841 Puerto Príncipe (now Camagüey), (Cuba)
Died	May 11, 1873 Jimaguayú, Cuba

Ignacio Agramonte y Loynáz (1841—1873) was a Cuban revolutionary, who played an important part in the Ten Years' War (1868–1878).

Born in the province of Puerto Príncipe (what is now the province of Camagüey, Cuba) on December 23, 1841, to a wealthy family. He went to Barcelona, Madrid, and Havana to study law. On June 11, 1865 he graduated as a lawyer.

He returned to Puerto Principe and married Amalia Simoni y Argilagos on August 1868, a woman who was the love of his life and whose family had considerably more wealth than his own.

Agramonte stood tall at 6'2". He had fine brown hair, pale skin, and was an expert horseman and fencer. He had a fine mustache and not thick or bushy like it appears in many portraits.

When the war of independence against the Spanish broke out, he played a pivotal role in the uprising of the province of Camagüey which took place on November 4, 1868. Agramonte himself joined the war a week later, on November 11, 1868.

His wife followed him in the struggle, but was captured on May 26, 1870 while pregnant with her second child, who was born in the USA and never met his father.

At a conference with other leaders who were trying to make amends with Spain, Agramonte made clear his opinion: "Stop at once all the lobbying, the awkward delays, and the humiliating demands: Cuba's only option is to gain its redemption by tearing itself from Spain through armed force."

On February 1869, he and Antonio Zambrana were elected secretaries, a title equivalent to minister, to the provincial government. He was subsequently elected a member and one of two secretaries - minister - of the Cuban Congress in Arms. He was among the signatories of the act that freed the slaves on the island and was the driving force in the drafting of the first Constitution in Cuban history.

He resigned his secretarial and ministerial position within the Congress after Carlos Manuel de Céspedes was made president that same year because Agramonte had strong political disagreements with him and knew they could not work together. The Congressional secretaries - ministers - had to work closely with the president.

He went on to become Major General of the Cuban forces for the military district of the province of Camagüey, where he organized the best cavalry troops in the Cuban Army. Showing great vision, in spite of his lack of formal military training, his troops terrified the Spanish Army. The Spaniards knew him to be formidable in battle, and nicknamed him "The Young Bolívar".

Agramonte capped his impressive list of military achievements when, on October 8, 1871, he led a daring rescue. His commander, Manuel Sanguily, was taken prisoner by more than 120 light cavalry while visiting a farm. Agramonte ordered 35 of his exhausted troops to mount up and track down the Spaniards. He personally led a furious charge, successfully rescuing Sanguily and routing the enemy troop, killing 11 and making 5 prisoners.

Ignacio Agramonte was killed at the Battle of Jimaguayú on May 11, 1873, where he was struck on the head by a stray bullet. His body was cremated by the Spanish authorities in Camagüey for fear that his troops would assault the city to recover his body.

Henry Reeve - Brigadier General - an American volunteer, and commander of his Cavalry Corps, named him "El Mayor", implying Agramonte was the best of all the Cuban Major Generals. Máximo Gómez succeeded him as Chief Military Commander of the military district of the province of Camagüey.

Agramonte used a Colt revolver, Navy model 1851, worked with ivory and gold. He used several machetes and sabres, and was carrying a sabre taken from a Spanish colonel at the time of his death.

Both the airport and the central park in Camagüey are named after him, and his statue is situated in the central plaza.

References[link]

• Agramonte. El Bayardo de la Revolución Cubana. Carlos Márquez Sterling (1899) Introducción de Ignacio Rasco. Miami, Fla. Editorial Cubana, 1995.
• Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz, (23/12/1841, 11/5/ 1873). Fermín Peraza y Sarausa La Habana . Departamento de Cultura, 1943 Colección: Publicaciones de la Biblioteca Municipal de la Habana.
• Atlas biográfico Mayor General Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz. Elaborado por la Empresa Occidental de Geodesia y Cartografía. La Habana: Instituto Cubano de Geodesia y Cartografía, 1989

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