Casa Museo Rafael Nuñez Home & Museum Visitor Guide

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Rafael Nuñez was the only Cartagena native to serve as president of Colombia. While president, he helped draft a new constitution.

He was also a journalist and even wrote the Colombian National Anthem.

Today, his home in Cartagena is a museum where you can learn about his life and contributions to national and local history. It’s pretty lightly visited. While not a must see, it’s an easy and relatively short visit. The house itself is pretty, and there’s some neat period furniture and exhibits on Nuñez’s life.

If you’d like to visit yourself, read on for a complete visitors guide to the Casa Rafael Nuñez Museum in Cartagena.

Casa Museo Rafael Nuñez

The Casa Museo Rafael Nuñez is, well, Rafael Nuñez’s house turned into a museum today.

Nuñez was a prominent journalist, politician, and only Cartagenero president of Colombia. One of Cartagena’s most famous natives, the Cartagena airport is named for him, and Colombia’s national anthem is based on a poem he wrote.

While I wouldn’t characterize it as a must visit, it’s one of the neater non-colonial era historic homes that you can tour, and it’s among the best Cartagena museums.

It’s also free, which is nice!

Visitor Information for the Casa Rafael Nuñez Museum

• Admission is always free
• Closed on Mondays
• Hours
  • Tuesday to Friday: 9 am – 5 pm
  • Saturday and Sunday: 10 am – 4 pm
• See their Instagram here (they post about special cultural events there).
• Guided tours are offered at the museum with the expectation of a tip
• Estimated time to visit: 30 minutes-an hour

Where is the Rafael Nuñez House in Cartagena?

The Casa Museo Rafael Nuñez is located just outside the Walled City at the entrance to Cabrero.

The Red Hop on Hop Off Tourist Bus does stop at the Rafael Nuñez House.

With a ticket good for 48 hours and a number of good stops, it’s a good value to get around to the main sites in Cartagena. You can buy your ticket online through Viator or through GetYourGuide.

Who was Rafael Nuñez?

Nuñez was a prominent figure in the second half of the 19th century in Cartagena and Colombia.

This period of Colombian history was marked by intermittent civil war and political fighting between liberals and conservatives.

Nuñez wrote for a number of newspapers in Colombia and for a time abroad as well. He served as a congressman, senator, consul to the United States and the United Kingdom, and Minister of War and Minister of the Treasury before being elected president.

He was first elected president in 1880-82, and re-elected in 1884.

He led a movement known as the Regeneration (La Regeneración) that sought to overthrow the decentralized federalist constitution of 1863. Liberal forces fought against his government but surrendered in 1885, and a constitutional convention was called.

The passage of the Constitution of 1886 is considered his lasting contribution to Colombian history.

It created a centralized state and changed the official name of the country from the United States of Colombia to the Republic of Colombia.

It’s somewhat interesting, given that Cartagena and much of the other cities in Colombia not named Bogotá tended to support federalism historically, although to be honest, that’s an oversimplification of Colombia’s complex 19th century history.

Nuñez’s constitution also reintegrated the Catholic Church as the official religion of the country.

Finally, it made the former states, departments with governors appointed by the president and extended the presidential term to 6 years.

This Constitution remained in place until 1991 when the current constitution was drafted.

Nuñez was reelected after the passage of the constitution and again in 1892, although he did not take office for the last term.

This highly centralized state and powerful presidency did help bring about peace and stability from the liberal and conservative conflicts of the mid-19th century. His presidency also saw investment in infrastructure nationwide, and including repairs to the Canal del Dique and the construction of a railroad in Cartagena.

You can learn more about him and his presidency in Nuñez’s biography on Wikipedia.

Nuñez also wrote the Colombian National Anthem “Oh Gloria Inmarcesible.”

The poem dates to the 1860s, and it was first set to music in honor of the celebration of Cartagena’s Declaration of Independence on November 11, 1887. This musical adaptation was officially adopted as the national anthem in 1920.

What to See at the Rafael Nuñez Museum?

The Casa Museo Rafael Nuñez is neat historic home with a lovely wrap around balcony.

Inside, you can see the pretty courtyards downstairs.

Upstairs, you will see the Nuñez’s quarters as well as the quarters of his second wife Soledad Román, who played an influential role in the politics of the 1880s.

There’s also a neat sitting room with exhibits on the constitution and Nuñez’s role in national politics as well as some examples of his writing for various newspapers on display.  You can also hang out on the sweet balcony.

You can also get a boli, a popsicle made with milk and Kola Román.

Kola Román was created by Nuñez’s brother in law and the sweet, red soda has long been a local favorite. It is used in a number of local Cartagena dishes and snacks, including plátano de tentación (plantain cooked in the soda) and the bolís. Kola Roman paired with an arepa de huevo is also a local favorite snack and one of Cartagena’s best street foods.

The highlight is really just the house itself, and the historic furniture is also pretty neat.

Considering the museum is both free and located just across the street from Cartagena’s Walled City, it’s worth stopping in and walking through if you’ve got an extra hour.

Ready to plan a visit to the Casa Museo Rafael Nuñez in Cartagena?

There you have it. A visitors guide to the Casa Museo Rafael Nuñez.

If you do stop in to see this historic home I hope this helped you plan your visit and you enjoy it. Let me now in the comments what you thought and if you tried a boli or Kola Roman during your visit!

Cheers and Happy Exploring!