Cartagena

Cartagena de Indias is fairy tale city of romance, legends and sheer beauty. Cobbled alleys, where enormous balconies are shrouded in bougainvillea and massive churches cast their shadows across leafy plazas. There are many open air cafes, prime viewing spots to watch the parade of horse-drawn carriages, fashionable locals ad mystified tourists.

Cartagena was founded in 1533 by Pedro de Heredia. It quickly grew into a rich town, but in 1552 an extensive fire destroyed a large umber of its wooden buildings. Since that time, only stone, brick and tile have been permitted as building materials. Within a short time the tow blossomed into the main Spanish port on the Caribbean coast and the major northern gateway to South America. It came to be the storehouse for the treasure plundered from the Indians until the galleons could ship it back to Spain. As such it became a tempting target for all sorts of buccaneers operating on the Caribbean Sea. In the 16^th century alone, Cartagena suffered five dreadful sieges by pirates, the most famous of which was that led by Sir Francis Drake. He sacked the port in 1586 and ‘mercifully’ agreed not to level the town once he was presented with a huge ransom of 10 million pesos, which he shipped back to England.  It was in response to pirate attacks that the Spaniards built up a series of forts around the town, saving it from subsequent sieges. In spite of the high price it had to pay for the pirate attacks, Cartagena continued to flourish. During the colonial period, Cartagena was the most important bastion of the Spanish overseas empire and influenced much of Colombia’s history. Cartagenawas one of the first town to proclaim independence from Spain, early in 1810, which prompted Bogota and other cities to do the same.

Tip of the Day

Fare airport to Getsemani barrio: $6300

We stayed at Casa relax: $120,000 (55 usd) with pool, breakfast included. (it’s $160,000 during high season). Rooms are very nice, and the hotel well located (at Getsemani, 10 mns walk from the old city). It's a good mediuem range hotel. Best to book ahead. Recommended.

Hotel Santa Clara is superb, but way too expensive. Rooms are not that great to deserve 400 usd a night. The setting of the hotel is incredible though.

Lunch at Santa Clara Hotel. Nice buffet. The bar is fantastic. The hotel is an old convent and it’s worth the visit.

Dinner at Juan Del Mar, a very nice seafood restaurant, with inventive plates. Highly recommended.

Comments

[evelyne]

bonsoir,
le 15 septembre prochain mon fils se mariera avec Diana, à Pasto, en Colombie. Je prépare mon voyage là-bas (du 21 août au 21 septembre) avec ma fille de 21 ans. Nous prévoyons Bogota, Carthagene et bien sûr il y aura la grande fête. Je ne sais pas encore quoi vous demander mais je voulais juste vous dire que vous venez de me faire rêver et que c'est très bon avant d'aller dormir... Vous m'avez l'air de beaucoup bourlinguer; super!!! J'habite Aix en Provence et je dois encore visiter la Bretagne... bon ben bon voyage et continuez à raconter; c'est vrai que la Colombie on en parle rarement en bien et Diana est vraiment contente de vous lire
Ciao, Evelyne K