"Aljibes were not abundant; water was contained in beautiful tinajas(...), disposed in the yards,
due to its great quantity, 4 or 6 of them might contain the water quantity of an aljibe".

This was the description made by Antonio Bachiller y Morales to the typical Tinajones from Camagüey when he visited the city of Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe on 1838.

The Tinajón is a symbol of Camagüey for antonomasia. It is the most genuine representation of this place. Camagüey is well-known around the whole world as the "City of Tinajones". Our tinajón has its antecendents in the Andalusian vessel . It was the solution with which the potters coming from the south of Spain, early settled in Puerto Príncipe, transformed in water containers the recipients used before to preserve grains, wines, oils and other liquids.

Although tinajones were massively ellaborated in this region from XVII century, they are not the exclusive owners. They were also made in other places of Cuba -Trinidad and Sancti Spiritus-, the Antilles, Jamaica and even in South America and Peru, where the potter tradition was taken from the Inca civilization.

Using the red clay from Sierra de Cubitas, tinajones started to be built in the early 1600, according to records, although there's no evidence of any tinajon under such remote date. The most ancient one is around 1760. Its production peaked the highest point in the central decades of XIX century. Since 1868, with the starting of the independentist struggles, it was almost cancelled to be reestablished later on, between 1978 and 1895, and completely ceased some time after.

Every home in Camagüey had at least one tinajón.

The water contained within its fresh walls, was used to drink and cook and the traditional pledge for visitors, relatives and foreigns appeared. Many found wedding here... That's why the oldest people and even the youngsters used to say to the boyfriend in wedding ceremonies and engagements: -He drinks water from the tinajón!. In 1900 there were in the city about 16 thousand tinajones. Today still remain 2 500 originals. Many of those which are present now at gardens and parks were made after 1976, when this potter tradition was rescued.

From one to another century, tinajones were varying in form. It essentially kept its classic model present until our days. The typical tinajón from Camagüey is that of huge belly, geometric sharp figures and wavy crest.

Many anecdotes place it as a proper place to hide for donjuanes who were surprised in the middle of romances in alien lands... According to a legend, in 1875, a mambi soldier was visiting his sick child in the city, near of the historical San Juan de Dios Square. He was betrayed and could scape from the Spanish civil soldiers who were chasing at him, just remaining hidden in one of this tinajones. The imagination of thousands artisans played with the soft clay in different ornamental objects. The lathe was still working generation after generation.

The master potters set forth the basis of the current ceramic in Camagüey. And together with this new generation, in the typical yards of Camagüey, transpiring the humidity of centuries, among arecas, flowers and ferns are still watching the time, the fat and bellied tinajones.

Taken from the site of culture in Camaguey. May 2003.