The Santa Maria del Puerto del Principe Village had serious problems with the water supplies once it was established on its current location on January 6th, 1528, and the inhabitants had to find a solution.

The Village was surrounded by abundant clay grounds, excellent quality clay that was the row material for the first recipients to store water.

It is said that the Big Pot has a Andalusian origin because they used them to store oils, specially the olive one. That’s why the Spanish men brought the pattern for our Camaguey.

The big pots were placed in the house back yards, and when the spring rains began, after the first of them cleaned the roofs, the big pots began to be filled by means of canal systems. Some families protected the top of the pot with cloths fro the mosquitoes not to deposit their larvas in the water, which was mainly used for drinking and cooking.

The big pots began to be manufactured at the beginning of the XVII Century. Through time it suffered changes in the top, belly or in the base, that in many cases, as there are no visible elements that determine its age, the morphologic characteristics are of Great help for its study.

By the middle of the XIX Century, as there were many ig pots in the houses, it was no more manufactured. On December, 1900, the North American authorities made an inventory of the number of Big Pots in the Puerto Principe City and there were 16 483.

These beautiful piece became the symbol that represents our city decades ago.