Visit the Cartagena Gold Museum – A Guide Cartagena’s Museo del Oro

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The Gold Museum in Cartagena displays examples of the lovely and intricate goldsmith work of Colombia’s indigenous peoples.

Visiting the Museo del Oro in Cartagena will give you a glimpse of these ancient gold artifacts and a chance to learn a bit about the indigenous cultures that crafted them.

Best of all, the museum is always free! So, there isn’t really a good reason not to include a visit during your time in Cartagena.

Read on for a guide to the Cartagena Gold Museum, including what you will see, visitor information, and where it’s located.

Cartagena Gold Museum Overview

Cartagena was founded in 1533 by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Heredía. He and other Spanish explorers had found a renewed interest in exploring this area of the northern coast of South America, known at the time as Tierra Firme, after the discovery and conquest of the Incan Empire.

Tales of the legendary El Dorado drew explorers like Heredía to try to establish a colony on the coast from which to explore the interior.

While Heredía, nor anyone else, found El Dorado, he and other Spanish conquistadores, did find lots of gold in what became Colombia. Much of it is on display at the larger and more impressive Bogotá Gold Museum.

The pieces on display at the Gold Museum in Cartagena are mostly relics of the gold produced by the Zenu (or Sinú) peoples that inhabited the interior coastal area. This is why the museum has the full name of the Museo del Ora Zenú.

Heredía and Cartagena’s early fortune came from tomb raiding expeditions in to Zenu territory.

While small, the museum is neat and worth the visit to see some of the impressive and elaborate gold work on display. Since it’s free to visit and can be done relatively quickly, there’s really no reason to not do it if you can spare an hour during your time in Cartagena.

You might also want to check out the Palace of the Inquisition Museum on the other side of the Parque Bolívar or to learn even more about the history of Cartagena, check out the Museo Naval del Caribe, the best done history museum in the city. Museum lovers should also check out my post on the best museums in Cartagena when planning.

Visitor Information for the Gold Museum in Cartagena

Here’s the basic information to visit the Museo del Oro in Cartagena:

Hours

• Tuesday-Saturday: 9 am-5 pm
• *Closed Mondays (including holidays)

This schedule was last confirmed in November 2024. The museum is occasionally closed for other reasons. You can confirm the hours and see a calendar of planned closures on its official website here.

Entrance Fees

None. The museum is always free to all visitors.

Location

The museum is centrally located inside the walled city on the far side of the Parque Bolívar, opposite the Palace of the Inquisition Museum.

It is about a 5 minute walk from the Clocktower and is housed around the corner from the governor’s offices.

What to See at the Gold Museum in Cartagena

Cartagena’s Gold Museum (Museo del Oro) is sponsored by Colombia’s national bank and exhibits preserved examples of Colombia’s indigenous people’s gold work.

It isn’t even a fraction as big as the much larger Gold Museum in Bogotá, but it still has some neat artifacts on display. You should absolutely visit that museum if you travel to Colombia’s capital city, since it’s definitely one of the best things to do in Bogotá.

However, if you don’t make it to Bogotá, not to fear, since you can see the Gold Museum in Cartagena. Best of all it’s free!

The artifacts on display here are mostly examples of the expert goldsmith skills of the indigenous people who inhabited Colombia before the arrival of Europeans. There are also some ceramics, including burial urns, on display.

The exhibits, which have full English translations, also provide some interesting insight into the smithing processes used, the cultures, traditions, and way of life of the indigenous peoples, as well as the history of the Spanish conquest.

Most of the artifacts on display were crafted by the Zenú people, who inhabited the coastal inland plains to the south of Cartagena. It was the elaborate gold work of the Zenú that attracted the Spanish conquistadores.

The Spanish, including Heredía, led countless expeditions into Zenú territory to steal the gold by raiding villages and grave robbing. It was this gold that helped fund the building of Cartagena and its emergence as a major trading port.

There are some really neat artifacts on display, including some that show off the Zenú’s unique gold weave patterns.

My favorite designs were the cool examples of gold animal figurines though.

There are also temporary exhibits that usually have to do with an aspect of Colombia’s culture, geography, or history.

Ready to Visit the Cartagena Gold Museum?

I hope you found this guide to the Cartagena Museo del Oro Zenú useful and informative. More importantly, I hope you find it enjoyable if you go yourself.

If you did go, let me know what your favorite part of the museum was in the comments below.

Cheers and Happy Exploring (but not grave robbing)!