04/06/2024
This past December, I had the privilege to visit Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. During our week there I was able to experience the incredible architecture, vibrant culture, brush up on my Spanish, and learn so much about this city’s history. I wanted to share on Facebook some of the photos I was able to capture on my old Nikon n60 35mm camera.
1. The Cathedral de Santa Catalina de Alejandria
This Cathedral was completed in 1612 ad the third iteration of a church to be built in the old city of Cartagena. While under construction, the city was attacked, looted, and held by Francis Drake. During these six weeks, Cartageneros were refusing to pay the ransom before Drake fired a warning shot to the cathedral, partially destroying this new pride of the city. Today the completed Cathedral stands with most of its original structure intact!
2. El Portal de Los Dulces
During the time of colonization, Cartagena had a very sad and violent history. Not only did it serve as one of the many seats for the Spanish Inquisition’s violent religious violence on native people in the colonies, but Cartagena’s location along the Caribbean coast made it a hub for the transatlantic slave trade. While at one time la plaza de Los coches served as a market for enslaved people, today it is filled with local vendors selling sweets - hence the area of arches being known as the “Sweets Portal”. With a wide variety of stands selling very similar sweets, we were told by our tour guide to go with “number 11” as the number 11 is a lucky number in Cartagena - symbolizing the city’s declaration of its independence from Spain on November 11, 1811.
There is so much more I can write about, including a trip to the Cartagena History Museum - but I will leave this post here.
