The Alicante Municipal Archive (AMA) is a General Service of the Municipal Administration, whose functions are to receive, preserve and serve the documents of the institution and the citizens. With two clear objectives: The dissemination of local history through the consultation of its funds by researchers, and the guarantee of municipal management by preserving its records.
History of the Alicante Municipal Archive
From ancient times to the present day, the archive has been considered a safe place where the documents that form part of the historical memory of a group are protected. The statute of King Don Joan of Aragon, dated 23 April 1459, mentioning that the keys to the archive were held by the scribe of the Hall (AMA Armari 5. Book 50, fol. 22v) is already a long way off. .), who was in charge of administrative management and keeping the general documentation of the Council and the bodies.
We have news from the three inventories, which are collected in a book called Inventari de l'Arxiu (AMA Armari 5, Book 76.), that the documentation that was related, before leaving in 1691, is the same that returned according to records to the last one in 1749. From 1765 Vicente Segura, author of the remittance indices of the Municipal Archive's holdings and the classification of the municipal documentation following the archival guidelines of the 18th century. The archive was located on the second floor, next to the clock tower, of the Town Hall, until the middle of the last century.
It then stayed on the ground floor, of the same building, until 1992. From that date, it moved to the so-called Palau Maisonnave, a house built between the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, which has been rehabilitated as a Municipal Archive. The original owners were the O'Gorman family, of Irish origin. And then its owners were the O'Connor family, related to the O'Gormans, the last owners being the Maisonnave family, and the Llorca-O'Connor family, who lived until the end of 1980, when the City Council acquires ownership of the building. The works for the rehabilitation of the building began in 1984. And the house at the back, built in the 20th century, was also acquired, to be used as a repository for the documentary collections.
During the reconstruction work, a necropolis from the 6th century, late Roman period, was discovered, in a good state of conservation, and which can be visited because part of it has been left open to the public, through a glass in the floor from the reading room, on the ground floor.
Among other functions was to make and guard the archive of government correspondence and the various real provisions and orders and was also responsible for stitching and recording in a current book, the letters and real provisions and orders that were directed from the Royal Council to the Justice, Juries or Council of the city of Alicante. There is evidence that an archive was built in the city so that books and papers could be kept and guarded.
On December 4, 1622, the documents were ordered to be collected to be installed in the archives of the Chapter House and Ginés Miralles was appointed archivist, escrivà. But the bombardment of the French squadron, on July 24, 1691, considerably damaged the city's buildings, including the Chapter House and its archive. This one lost a lot of documentation during the attack and what is preserved today from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries was because part of its documents, jewels and silver from the city, were sent on a ship to Palma de Mallorca .
Documentary funds
Documentary funds (manuscripts, textual and graphic) very valuable for the government of the city such as the series of Royal Privileges and Provisions (1366-18111); Courts (17th-18th centuries); Municipal Acts since 1709; Letters Written and Received (1665-1842); Paths (1703-1832); Treasury (since the 17th century); Festivities (since the 18th century); Supply (16th-19th century); Health (since the 18th century); Urban Police (1752-1939); Urban planning (since the 19th century).
Extreme dates: 13th-21st century
Most outstanding documents
Book of the Privileges of the city of Alicante by Alfonso X the Wise. (Codex. XIII century).
Grant of the title of city to the town of Alicante by the monarch Ferdinand the Catholic on July 26, 1490 in Córdoba (Parchment).
Cartographic documents of Alicante City Council. XVIII century
Party posters. XX century
Services and activities
- The Institution itself in the exercise of its functions
– Researchers and scholars of local issues n – Citizens in general who wish to consult any data about the city.
– Exhibition activities, visits, teaching, publications.
Digitized city documents. The imprint of the past in the documents
Municipal Proceedings of the First Plenum of the Republican City Council
On April 16, 1931, the constitution of the first City Council of the Second Republic was celebrated under the presidency of His Excellency. Mr. Carlos Esplá Rizo, civilian governor, who declared the session open with some excited words: "I come to preside over the act of constitution of the Republican City Council on behalf of the Government of the Republic. I come to this event with an emotion that denounces the trembling of my words..."
Sports Press
Hercules 1934
Uncle Worm
Complete copy of this well-known satirical publication very popular in the first third of the 20th century.
Construction project of the Cinema Ideal, 1924.
It is one of Alicante's classic cinema halls
Located on the old Zorrilla avenue, after Durruti, José Antonio and the current Constitució. It was a central area that housed most of the leisure venues: Central Cinema, Monumental Saló Moderno, Saló Espanya and Teatre Principal.
The project, dated 1924, is signed by the architect Juan Vicente Santafé i Arellano. It had a capacity of 1,419 spectators, divided between the so-called preference area, on the main and first floors, and the general public area, on the second floor, popularly known as the "chicken coop". The cinema was inaugurated in October 1925 and remained active until February 2003. Thousands of films were shown over the course of more than seventy years, from the days of silent cinema to sound and color. The venue also hosted music concerts, lyrical shows, plays and even boxing matches.
60 practical recipes for preserving and seasoning sardines.
José Guardiola Ortiz (1874-1946) was a lawyer, Republican politician and gourmet from Alicante. He published this book in 1939 with the title Plats de Guerra. It was reissued in 1964 with this new title of 60 practical recipes for the conservation and seasoning of sardines.
The Municipal Archive of Alicante offers access to the documents that have created local history
See interviews
We open the week #enlarxiudAlicante with the researchers who usually work with their funds. Here, Alfredo Campello, fromAlicante Live, explains how he prepares his books and articles with these documents
The press has been responsible for collecting the history of culture in the city, the journalist Antonio Sempere explains how he uses the Municipal Archive to study it.
When the history of tobacco factories was just being studied in Spain, Caritat Valdés bet to get to know a fundamental part of the local economy. The importance of these cigar boxes later passed to the hospitality industry, another topic he has researched with the help of the Municipal Archive.
With the move from the lower level of the municipal palace to Carrer Llauradors, the Municipal Archives gained in space and the modernization of the facilities. The historian Joaquín Sáez remembers what those old offices were like and how he found the original City Hall plans.
The good work of the professionals of the Municipal Archives of Alicante is a trait that Rosalía Mayor and Elvira Rodríguez highlight and appreciate. Their collaboration has resulted in the images for publications such as La Hoja del Lunes, El Salt and Canelobre.
The series of researchers we met with the reopening of the Alicante Municipal Archives after the works ends with Juana María Balsalobre. Here he explains through his work on theater and cinema architecture the importance of staff and their knowledge in finding the right documents.
Alicante Calendar by Gastón Castelló
At the beginning of the thirties of the last century, the artist Gastón Castelló (1901-1986) had returned to his native city, after a period of training and stays in Madrid and Paris. He taught at the Model School and had been involved in the new festival of Les Fogueres de Sant Joan, since its creation in 1928. Gastón received a commission from the newspaper The Time to make a calendar for the year 1931. With this motive he made twelve pens in which he chose representative motifs of the different months of the year, giving evidence of his mastery in drawing. The original is preserved in the Newspaper Library of the Municipal Archive.
Gallery of the Alicante Municipal Archive
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Address
C. Llauradors, 9, 03002 Alicante
