Shawn

Check Out My Day In and Pictures of Cartagena, Colombia

August 24, 2011
Category: Panama Canal, Shore Excursion Ideas, Unesco World Heritage Sites

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, this past Christmas we enjoyed a Panama Canal Cruise… which was awesome!

Well, while doing that Cruise we also got to visit some really great places near the Canal… one being Cartagena, Colombia… so today we wanted to share our pictures of Cartagena.

Before we do that though, a little about this historic place.

Cartagena lies on the Northern Coast of Colombia…

…very exciting for us as this was the first time we touched foot in South America! 🙂

Cartagena is Colombia’s 5th largest city with a population of almost 1 million people… and it’s a major economic center and tourism destination of Colombia.

Cartagena is quite the historic place as people settled in that area thousands of years ago. It only became Cartagena almost 500 years ago though, being named after Cartagena, Spain which is where many of the sailors who sailed with the Spanish commander who founded it came from.

Cartagena was a very wealthy city for a long time and due to that it was attacked numerous times by pirates and countries trying to take it over…

…hence the reason why you’ll see a huge wall around “Old Cartagena” when you’re here and why it has the most extensive fortifications in all of South America.

Actually, the walled section of Cartagena and the forts and port itself have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site… and an impressive one it is!

For almost 300 years Cartagena was ruled by the Spanish Empire but it finally gained it’s independence from Spain in 1811… but you’ll certainly see lots of Spanish reminders around in the architecture, food, culture, etc.

Alright, enough with the history lesson, let’s look around so you can get an idea of what to expect when your Cruise ship makes a stop here. 🙂

The "Castillo San Felipe de Barajas" Fort in Cartagena, Colombia — As mentioned, Cartagena was a highly fortified city back in the day and the the “Castillo San Felipe de Barajas” Fort is definitely the most impressive example of that!

View from the "Castillo San Felipe de Barajas" Fort in Cartagena, Colombia — Besides serving as a point of defence for Cartagena in times of war, the Fort provides the best 360 degree views of the City! 🙂

Nancy Power checking out the tunnels at the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas Fort — One of the highlights of the Fort is the maze of complex tunnels that it contains underneath… there’s Nancy going to check it all out.

Nancy & Shawn Power at the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas Fort in Cartagena, Colombia — Not sure if you can tell in the picture above but that’s one very Happy Couple enjoying their day together in Cartagena, Colombia! 🙂

A view of a cobbled alley in Cartagena, Colombia — A highlight of this city is strolling through the maze of cobbled alleys in “Old Cartagena” where you’ll see lots of houses with balconies like above covered in Bougainvillea (a plant native to South America)

A look at a torture device at the Palace of Inquisition in Cartagena, Colombia — Although not the proudest part of Cartagena’s History, but a big part of it, is the “Spanish Inquisition”… a highlight of a visit to the old city is visiting the “Palace of Inquisition” which shows some of the ways the tortures played out back in the day.

The Simon Bolivar statue in Cartagena, Colombia — Here’s a statue you’ll see in almost all major Latin America cities… it’s of Simon Bolivar who helped Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela all gain their independence from the Spanish Empire

Here’s some live footage below of another treat we experienced while strolling through the alleys of Old Cartagena… street dancers! 🙂

A church in Old Cartagena in Colombia — There’s one of the many huge churches in the old city that casts it’s shadow across the streets below… beautiful!

Inside of a church in Cartagena, Colombia — The inside of these churches are pretty impressive looking too!

Nancy Power with a local lady in Cartagena, Colombia — There’s Nancy getting a picture with a local lady… boy she has good balance! 🙂

Street Vendors showing their goods in Cartagena, Colombia — If you love to shop & bargain you’ll love Cartagena as there are street vendors offering their goods everywhere you go… which of course, adds to the Fun of it all! 🙂

Local dancers in Cartagena, Colombia — A nice treat when in “Old Town” Cartagena was the little show we got to see that some local dancers put on

View of Cartagena, Colombia's skyline — One of the nicest parts of Cartagena for sure is it’s Beautiful skyline… to finish off our “look” at the city here’s a picture of just that. 🙂

We hope you liked taking a peek into Cartagena, Colombia with us…

…if you’ve been there and want to add something or you have questions, etc. make sure to leave us a comment below.

And if your interested in seeing the rest of our Panama Canal Cruise pics and videos then visit our Cartagena & Panama Canal Cruise photo & video gallery.

We appreciate You!

Nancy & Shawn
Your Trusted Cruise Experts!

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