Santa Cruz de Mompox

Mompox or Mompós, officially Santa Cruz de Mompox, is a town and municipality in northern Colombia, in the Bolívar Department, which has preserved its colonial character. The city was founded on May 3, 1537 by Alonso de Heredia, brother of Pedro de Heredia, as a safe port on the Magdalena river. Santa Cruz de Mompox became quite prosperous as a port for the transportation of goods upriver into the interior. A royal mint was established here and the town was famous for its goldsmiths. This prosperity had begun to wane in the nineteenth century, but continued until early in the twentieth century when the river shifted and sediment accumulated on this arm of the river, at which point Magangué became the favored port.
Santa Cruz de Mompox is known for the preservation of its colonial architectural features, as expressed by the mixture of its Spanish and Indian styles. UNESCO named the historic center of Mompox as a World Heritage Site in 1995. Today, most of the colonial buildings are still used for their original purposes, which provides an excellent example of a Spanish colonial city. Of particular note is the wrought iron work decorating doors, railings and window grills along the streets.
Our bus reached Mompox around 2 pm. As soon as we stepped out of the air conditioned bus, we realized we were stepping into a furnace. It was around 40C in the sun. We could feel the blast of hot air on our faces. We didn't have a place booked so we took our bags and started walking towards the riverside in the hope of finding some place to stay on the way.Read more