Cartagena is one of the most beautiful cities of South America. The city was formally know as Cartagena De Indias (Cartagena of Indies) or Cartagena La Heroica (The Heroic) and is nicknamed The Walled City.
It founded in 1533 by don Pedro de Heredia, and named after the port of Cartagena in Spain's Murcia region, it was a major center of early Spanish settlement in the Americas, and continues to be an economic hub as well as a popular tourist destination.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, Cartagena was part of the Spanish Main*, one of the chief ports of the Spanish treasure fleet and so a prime target by English pirates and French buccaneers (such as Sir Francis Drake, who sacked the city in 1586).
Many of Cartagena's fortifications still stand: the Castle of San Felipe de Barajas, built between 1536 and 1657; the walls around the Old City (Las Murallas); the undersea wall across Bocagrande built between 1771 and 1778; and the forts of San Jose and San Fernando, built between 1751 and 1759 at Bocachica.
Las Murallas
Forts of San Fernando
Forts of San Jose
With the expected influx of tourists after the release of the movie Love in the Time of Cholera , which was largely filmed there.
It's also interesting to visit museums such as the Palace of Inquisition, and to stop in to some of the beautiful churches like the Iglesia de San Pedro Claver and the Iglesia de Santo Domingo.
Iglesia de Santo Domingo
Iglesia de San Pedro Claver
Palace of Inquisition
Here some beautiful views of Cartagena:
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