This May 3th, the cemetery of the city, reaching its 207 years of existence and without being a patrimonial cemetery, has features that make it unique, particular and with its own personality.

In the town, a new cemetery was not built, but a parish cemetery was adapted, to assume the function of a city cemetery, so it preserves the layout of its cemetery as a courtyard attached to a church, that of Cristo del Buen Viaje. It is not a cemetery that responds to the name of a patron saint, but to the title of the city: General Cemetery of Camagüey and its architectural layout that it is similar to the city of the living.

In it a historical event of great local and national significance takes place, the entry and disappearance of the corpse of Major General Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz, on May 12th, 1873. It is another peculiarity the construction of pantheons of four fronts, funerary typology, which it allows burials to be made for each of its four facades and that is typical in some Spanish cemeteries and in some of its old colonial enclaves in America, such as in Colombia and Philadelphia; but in Cuba they are only present in this cemetery, hence its importance, as it is one of the unique features that distinguish it in the country and that guarantee its heritage value.

It also stands out, for being one of the oldest in the country still in operation, it maintains the obituary services; and it is located on the main access road to the city: the central highway, of national interest.

The General Cemetery of Camagüey: an open-air museum and its role in the socialization of Heritage Education

The Cemetery is an open-air museum with historical, architectural, artistic, literary, and cultural values, so we cannot continue to see it solely as the sacred place reserved for those who die, and to which, for reasons of high human sensitivity, relatives and friends of the deceased come to offer, through multiple and diverse ways, their veneration and respect in remembrance of his loved ones.

The cemetery is an obligatory point of reference to learn about the idiosyncrasy and identity of Camagüey, not only because of the funeral customs that are contained in it, but also because of its relationship with the traditions, legends and memories of life and death; because as Cicero said: The life of the dead is in the memory of the living.

Their tombstones, sculptures and epitaphs, speak about what remains of the dead, without distinction, about whether in life they were the main and most ancient families of Camagüey: governors, mambises and veterans of the Liberation Army, soldiers of the Spanish Army, martyrs of the Revolution, internationalist combatants, intellectuals, local, national and international  personalities, who stood out in different walks of life such as the arts, sciences, history, politics and others that had a notable impact on the historical-social events of the town and the country or anonymous persons, without names.

Who makes possible the new image that shows the General Cemetery of Camagüey?

For two years the Office of the Historian of the city, with the consent of the highest authorities of the Party and the Government in the province and Camagüey municipality, in coordination with the provincial and municipal directorates of Comunales, the University of Camagüey, the Archbishopric , the Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets, the Restoration Company, Self-Employed Workers, and with the advice of the MSc. Arch. Omar López Rodríguez, Curator of the City of Santiago de Cuba, with experiences and excellent results of work in the Santa Ifigenia Patrimonial Cemetery of said city, has achieved the formation of a team of specialists who undertake the conservation, restoration and recovery of the funerary patrimony of the General Cemetery of Camagüey, and the change is already being appreciated, the improvement of its surroundings and work continues to recover and return the patrimonial values ​​it possesses. The road is difficult and uplifting, but there is still much to do.

Why should we take care of the General Cemetery of Camagüey?

In its 207 years, the cemetery has fought against challenges, such as physical, environmental, chemical, biological damage and even the lack of material and financial resources. But the strongest war has been and is, against irresponsibility, indolence and vandalism that can end up destroying and annihilating the wealth inherited from this respectable and worthy site.

The General Cemetery of Camagüey, however, remains imperturbable at the foot of the city, as the most complete testimony of the life of the territory and as an indissoluble part of the history of the town, hence its values, which exist to know them, share them, spread them; but above all: preserve, safeguard and protect them; in a city declared a National Monument and a Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Bibliography:

El Cementerio General de Camagüey de la Dra. Adela García Yero.

Periódico Adelante: Artículo “La otra vida en la ciudad de los muertos”, de Eduardo Labrada Rodríguez, fecha 24/8/2002.

Periódico Adelante: Artículo “Dando vida al espacio de la muerte,” de Eduardo Labrada Rodríguez, fecha 4/5/2019.

Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García