Virtual Guide II
Good morning dear readers, today we bring a very nice and interesting post, in our section You Virtual Guide, a space where we will learn about those places that captivate, that seduce, and perhaps after reading us you will be encouraged to visit at some point. We begin this renewed and updated section, talking about a very well known, highly valued and beloved city, both in Colombia and in other countries, because it played an important role in the colonization and independence of Colombia. Its name, Cartagena de Indias, but its nickname, La Heroica or The Walled City, as many people would say, a city within a city. We cannot talk about such an incredible place, without going back in history, to know about it, and why it was so important in that historical process.
Cartagena, a spectacular city, so full of life, with many stories, and a very peculiar past, many songs have been dedicated to it, and many hearts have been captivated, and even catalogued as one of the 3 Pearls of the Caribbean. Located in the north of Colombia, on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, this imposing coastal city is the capital of the region (Department or State) Bolivar.
What is the History of Such a Beautiful City?
According to some historians, in pre-Columbian times, Cartagena was inhabited by the famous Carib Indians, who settled all along the coasts and islands of the Caribbean Sea, including Venezuela, Curacao, Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, among others. These fierce warriors were feared by the European explorers and colonizers, because their fury and skills on land and at sea, frightened even the most experienced, so they gave a great fight in the coasts of Cartagena, however, we are talking about Indians who did not have great weapons, on the contrary everything was bows and arrows, but the Spaniards arrived better prepared, so in 1533 Don Pedro Heredia, on June 1st, of that year, founded such an incredible city under the name of "Cartagena de Poniente", in honor of "Cartagena de Levante", a Spanish city, which shares some similarities with Cartagena.
The construction of this new coastal city, did not take long to begin, its good geographical location, made it a favorite place for the Spanish, to the point of making it an ideal port to start with the African slave market, sending great wealth to the Spanish crown, besides being a very commercial place, at that time Cartagena was listed as an ideal place to have a great time, despite the heat it was, those divine beaches, took you to madness, who came did not want to leave. But not everything in life goes as we want or expect, being so popular inside and outside Colombia, attracted the attention of pirates, corsairs, and other Crowns, anxious to cut off their supply of great fortunes to the Spaniards, is that to mention that Cartagena was considered The Gateway to El Dorado. The English thought that by conquering it, and taking it away from the Spanish, they would conquer all of South America. The biggest challenge for the Spanish Crown was to defend this city, so they set themselves an architectural and engineering challenge for that time, to create fortifications that would resist any attack, and to have a city within a city, it is worth mentioning that this began in the XVI century, and evolved, progressing between the XVII and XVIII centuries, until it was well "secured".
You can see that we were not wrong, with what is full of history, now let's go, to know, what is the tourist attraction of Cartagena for us future travelers or tourists of this incredible city. Located in a captivating bay, with a lively nightlife, among a colonial architecture, this is the best place to visit, because you will be delighted, and there are so many things to do, which in this post we are going to mention. The first thing you have to do is to visit the historic center of the city, which is made up of thousands of kilometers of ancient walls. So important is this place in Cartagena, that in 1984 UNESCO declared this part of the city a World Heritage Site.
However, if you want to see colors that make you fall in love, and narrow streets that transport you to ancient times, you have to go to the heart of the city, where you will find colonial streets, with well-conversed buildings dating back many years, and a beauty that will transport you out of that time, among them you will come across the great Aduana Square, Bolivar Square, Santo Domingo Square and other places that will make you take your camera and take lots of selfies.
Remember that we mentioned in another text, that Cartagena is a walled city, it turns out that in colonial times, there were only two entrances to enter the center of the city, and one of them is called The Tower of the Clock, an extremely attractive and interesting construction, when entering by that point, we will arrive at the square of the cars, one of the most spectacular places in the city.
If your thing is to be at the top, the viewpoint on the hill of Popa, is a great option, just being there, seeing the immensity of the city, the imposing that is reflected, makes you not want to leave such a spectacular place, in this way we will have a great view of everything that surrounds Cartagena, because this hill is the highest point that the city has. In it there is a convent, which is visitable, with many interesting stories, and a great architecture.
Very well we toured the city, we saw it from the top, we learned its history, but we can not ignore the beaches, which are unique, for that we can go to the Baru Peninsula, nothing better than the waters of the Caribbean Sea, crystal clear, and delicious, so this beach will captivate you, is joined by a kind of bridge, located an hour from downtown Cartagena, in shower peninsula, is Blanca Beach, a place surrounded by restaurants, hotels, and frequented by tourists and vendors, which will make you taste the best delicacies of the sea, If there is something in which Cartagena is rich, is in its local gastronomy, from a famous Rice with Chipi Chipi, to a Pork in Tamarind sauce, a delight, so in Virtual Variety we invite you to make plans, when all this happens, visit such an imposing place, fall in love with it, learn about its history, its people, its culture, and dance to the rhythm of Caribbean music, which is heard in every corner of the Heroic Cartagena de Indias.
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In Virtual Variety, we created this section to show you the most fascinating places in the world, read our first Virtual Guide publication:
This text was translated from Spanish to English thanks to the translator Deepl.
Hi, A great review of Cartagena de Indias.