CARTAGENA

CARTAGENA IS A HISTORICAL CITY. WHICH OFFERS TO THE VISITORS AN UNIQUE TOURISTY ALTERNATIVE. THE CULTURAL AND GASTRONOMIC OFFER CAN BE COMPARE WITH THE KINDNESS OF ITS COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE AND ITS LUXURY AND CHARMING HOTELS.

THE “SAN FELIPE DE BARAJAS CASTLE”

THIS FORTIFICATION,DECLARED NATIONAL MONUMENT IN 1965, IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK OF MILITARY ENGINEERING BUILT IN THE CITY.FROM THE BEGINNING OF ITS CONSTRUCTION IN 1657 UNTIL ITS FINAL STAGE IN 1798, ON THE SAN LAZARO HILL,THE SAN FELIPE CASTLE WAS THE BIGGEST BASTION TO DEFEND CARTAGENA FROM PIRATE ATTACKS. ITS STRATEGIC POSITION WITH A VIEW TO ALL THE ENTRANCE POINTS TO THE CITY, ALLOWED BLOCKING SEVERAL INVASION ATTEMPTS BY LAND AND SEA.

THE CLOCK TOWER

THIS UNMINISTAKABLE SYMBOL OF CARTAGENA CONSTITUTES THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE OLD WALLED CITY .IN FRONT OF IT THE PEACE SQUARE IS LOCATED AND WHEN CROSSING ONE OF ITS THERE ARCHES YOU MAY FIND THE CARRIAGE SQUARE, THE STATUE OF DON PEDRO DE HEREDIA AND THE PORTAL OF THE SWEET TREATS.
TODAY THE SECTOR OF THE CLOCK TOWER IS ONE OF THE MOST CONCURRED PLACES IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA AND IT SERVES AS A PRACTICAL ENCOUNTER POINT.

GASTRONOMY

GASTRONOMY OF CARTAGENA IS AS VARIED AS ITS CULTURE. THE NEW WORLD’S KITCHEN IS A COMBINATION OF THE FLAVORS OF AMERICA , AFRICA AND EUROPE.THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE CITY WE CAN FIND PLACES THAT DELIGHT WITH UNIQUE FLAVORS OF THE CARIBBEAN, FROM STREET SALES ON TO LUXURIUS RESTAURANTS RECOGNIZED IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY.
THE FRUITS OF SEA, THE INGREDIENTS OF THE INGENOUS FOOD AND ITS AFRICAN HERIAGE,CREATE AN EXQUISITE VARIETY OF DISCHES SUCH AS; COCONUT RICE,PATACONES,CARIMAÑOLAS SANCOCHO, FISH AND SHELLFISH IN VARIOUS PRESENTATIONS,EGG TURNOVERS,BEAN AND MAIZE LOAVES.

THE OLD SHOES

FROM A VERSE OF THE SONNET “ YO MAY NATIVE CITY” BY LUIS CARLOS LOPEZ, THE BLIND ONE ,THE IDEA FOR THE OLD SHOES MONUMENTS IS BORN.THIS ORIGINAL SCULPTURE WAS CREATED BY TITO LOMBANA IN HONOR OF THE CARTAGENERO POET WHO DEDICATED HIS WORK TO EVOKE THE TRADITIONS OF ITS CITY. THE SCULPTOR WAS INSPIRED BY THE LAST VERSE OF THE SONNET THAT REFERRING TO CARTAGENA READS : “YOU WERE HEROIC IN YOUR COLONIAL YEARS,WHEN YOUR CHILDREN FLOWING EAGLES,WERE NOT A VENCEJOS CATERVA. BUT TODAY FULL OF RANCID SCRUFFINESS,YOU MAY WELL INSPIRE THE AFFECTION THAT ONE HAS TO HIS OLD SHOES.

THE “INDIA CATALINA”

THIS SLENDER FIGURE WAS CREATED BY THE SCULPTOR ELADIO GIL ZAMBRANA IN HONOR TO CATALINA,A CARIBBEAN INDIAN THAT SERVED AS INTERPRETER TO THE SPANISH CONQUEROR DON PEDRO DE HEREDIA IN THE XVI CENTURY. CATALINA WAS THE DAUGHTER OF CACIQUE GALERAS AND SHE WAS BORN IN WHAT TODAY IS KNOWN AS GALERA ZAMBA ,BOLIVAR.THE SCULPTURE WAS PRESENTED TO THE CITY ON MARCH 9 1974 AND IT IS A REPRODUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL BY HECTOR “TITO” LOMBANA,1960 . THIS SCULPTURE,LOCATED IN DOWNTOWN, HAS BECOME ONE OF THE MOST REPRESENTATIVE AND LOVED SYMBOLS OF THE PEOPLE OF CARTAGENA.