Cartagena Attractions
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Las Bovedas
At the northeastern corner of the old walled city is Cartagena’s grandest arcade, stretching with imperial purpose from Santa Clara to Santa Catalina Fortress. Behind the 47 painted archways are a ... Read more
Palacio de la Inquisicion
This fun little museum on Plaza Bolivar, in an impressive 18th-century mansion, already attracts the morbidly inclined. Your tour begins with two entire rooms full of horrifying torture devices, used ... Read more
Templo (Iglesia) de Santo Domingo
Iglesia Santo Domingo, founded in 1534, is the oldest church in Cartagena and one of the first in the hemisphere. The original stone structure, finished in 1551, was so badly damaged by Sir Francis ... Read more
Cathedral of San Pedro Claver
Cartagena’s Catedral de San Pedro Claver, so close to the sea wall, seems unduly imposing for such a sanctified site. Begun in 1575, when this was a very rough neighborhood, its unfinished ... Read more
Plaza Bolivar
This shady park, centered on a trickling fountain and statue of Simon Bolivar, is a more local hangout spot than the upmarket cafes taking over Plaza Santo Domingo. The benches are full of ... Read more
San Felipe de Barajas Castle
Cartagena’s strategic significance as Europe’s conquest of the Americas intensified cannot be overstated. Some say that if the British had won the 1741 Battle of Cartagena, that South America would ... Read more
Rosario Islands
Less than an hour southwest of Cartagena’s port is a fragile archipelago of some 30 picture-perfect islands, wrapped in shimmering white-sand beaches, and strung like rosary beads through the deep ... Read more
Convento de la Popa
Gleaming white in its vantage point, high above Cartagena’s protected bay, the Convento de la Popa is visible from almost anywhere in the city. Though it’s a bit of a chore to get here—you’ll need to ... Read more
Isla Encanto
Though Cartagena’s city beaches will do in a pinch—renting a breezy covered lounge chair on the broad, gray sands of Boca Grande is your best bet—the water is usually murky and setting never really ... Read more
Museum of Modern Art/Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena de Indias
Plaza San Pedro Claver, in front of the museum, is itself a site to behold, studded with whimsical modern sculptures apparently made from spare parts. For more, enter the smallish Museum of Modern ... Read more
