Cartagena travel guide
Colombia · Top sights · trending spots
Cartagena was Spain's treasure port on the Caribbean and walled itself against the pirates who kept sacking it; the ramparts, forts and old town have been World Heritage since 1984.
Inside them are balconies of bougainvillea and, in Getsemaní, streets painted wall to wall. Boats run to the Rosario islands for the day. Evenings are for the walls at sunset and dancing afterwards.
Top 5 sights in Cartagena
Ranked by Wikipedia language editions — proven fame.
- © Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas
The largest fort the Spanish built anywhere in the Americas, begun in 1657 on a hill commanding the city. Its tunnels were cut so that sound carries, letting defenders hear sappers coming. Admiral Vernon besieged it in 1741 with a hundred and eighty-six ships and failed.
- © Ryan · CC BY-SA 2.0
- © Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) · CC BY-SA 4.0
Iglesia de San Pedro Claver, Cartagena
A Jesuit church built between 1580 and 1654, where Pedro Claver ministered to the Africans landed in chains at Cartagena and where his remains now lie beneath the high altar. Called San Juan de Dios at first and San Ignacio from 1622, it took its present name after his canonisation; Gaston Lelarge gave it the dome in 1921.
- © Samael Alejandro Zapata Ibarra · CC BY-SA 3.0
- © David Shankbone · CC BY-SA 3.0
Puerta del Reloj, Cartagena
The main gate of the historic centre of Cartagena in Colombia and the original entrance to the walled city. It stands between the Plaza de la Independencia and the Plaza de los Coches, and takes its name from the clock placed on top of it in the early eighteenth century.
KlookPopular tickets & tours in Cartagena
Live products and prices are provided directly by Klook.
