Founded in 1533 by the conquistador Don Pedro de Heredia with the name of "Cartagena de Ponente" to distinguish it from "Cartagena de Levante" in Spain. The city quickly became the gemstone of the Spanish crown. Inhabited by Indian warriors Caribbean after colonization by the Spanish colonial city was built during the fourteenth to the nineteenth century and protected from the constant attacks of pirates and buccaneers. The largest fortification in the Americas was built around Cartagena.

 

Cartagena was the first province that won independence on November 11, 1811, as recorded in the minutes remained absolute independence from Spain, and still retains the real architectural treasure of civil, religious, military and government buildings.

 

Included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO, the history of Cartagena is evident by just walking through its streets and alleys. This keeps memories of pirate attacks, the operation of the dreaded Inquisition Tribunal who sacrificed many slaves under severe accusations of witchcraft and religious rules imposed by the order dominica which had the power to decide the fate of its citizens.

 

The cultural richness is the result of miscegenation and its architectural beauty; the sea and the hot afternoon wind make Cartagena one of the most fascinating cities in the Caribbean.