The Municipal Ordinances of the city of Puerto Príncipe were approved in Havana on October 8th, 1856, by the Captain General of the Island José de la Concha, but did not enter into force until January 1st, 1857. These Ordinances had thirteen chapters grouped together in a handwritten document that is considered an exceptional exponent of heritage value due to its exclusivity within the province.

They are based on the disposition of the City Council to create a file in which they collect the infractions and solutions in a systematic way, mainly in the structural order; In addition to being a system of rules or norms that serve as an instrument for the maintenance of public order in a city and that is issued by the body of the City Council, the governing body and administration of the municipalities, inherited from medieval cities whose management is effective in small communities where the direct relationship of its inhabitants makes it possible to put it into practice in their daily life.

In them, were depicted certain laws for the improvement of a healthier city and a control for the delineations of new houses, under municipal control with the aim of improving the urban layout. The overhang volumes on facades, that caused problems and took over the public space, were restricted in dimensions. The Ordinances did not stop at the formal aspects of architecture; because the main concern was not the aesthetic-architectural image, but the fact of non-aggression to the urban space.

The Municipal Ordinances meant an order in the urban-architectural development of Puerto Príncipe, but its true importance lay in the revelation of the aspirations of the Camagüey society regarding its architectural environment.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García