Cartegena, Spain

Another beautiful day! The weather has been perfect for touring - around 72 degrees with a slight breeze.

Our tour started with a very short drive to the city center. The ship was able to dock at the pier very close to the center of town, easily walkable, but because our tour included a panoramic view of the city, we had a bus.

We were dropped off near the city center, passing by City Hall. The streets within the Center are different than Rome - 'cheap' marble and open to pedestrians and service vehicles. Since the early 20th century,many of the buildings have been designed with art nouveau. Cartegena is on a peninsula, and the area near where the cruise terminal is now is land. It is a major naval station on the Mediterranean coast , south-east Iberia. It was founded around 227 BC and has gone through many conquests from neighboring areas throughout its history. It has also gone through many wars, with the last being the Spanish Civil Wars from 1936 - 1939.

Many of the structures discovered were by accident - when buildings were being torn down because of age or a new parking lot was being built. Our next stop was to a Roman bath. This area is still being excavated. It was then onto a Roman theater. This theater has completed its excavation, but the garden area behind it is still being worked on. There is a 13th century church located at the top of the seating area which is not park of the Roman Theater but is a great example of how buildings were built on top of older buildings, covering up what was once there.

Our next stop was to the Punic Walls. These are the original city walls dating back to the 3rd century BC. 3 times Cartegena has had other countries try to take over and 3 times Cartegena has lost - this all happening in its early stage of becoming a city. The walls were two layers with a small space between. In its excavation, a crypt was discovered.Read more