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One of the neatest and most unique things about Cartagena is the historic Walled City of Cartagena.
Known as the Centro histórico de Cartagena, Ciudad amurallada, or often just Centro in Spanish, the Cartagena’s Walled City, also commonly called Old Town Cartagena or the Cartagena Old City in English, is filled with charming historic architecture and is home to many of the city’s best attractions, hotels, restaurants, and nightlife.
The majority of Old Cartagena’s walls also remain intact, one of the largest examples remaining anywhere of colonial era walls.
Besides being the beating heart of the tourist industry and a joy to explore, Cartagena’s Centro Histórico also remains a vibrant downtown government and commercial district.
In this post, I’ll share some background on the history as well as the highlights of what to see and do in the historic center of Cartagena, Colombia based on my 11 years living in the city, so you can be fully prepared to explore it yourself!
The Walled City of Cartagena
Cartagena’s Walled City is sets it apart as a unique destination and part of why it’s Colombia’s top tourist destination.
The walls of the Old Town in Cartagena, Colombia, which date to 1600s, are among the most well preserved of any in the world. Along with the colonial architecture, they are a big part of the reason the city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
I remember being captivated by Cartagena’s Walled City when I arrived in 2011.
It reminded me a lot of Havana, where I had studied abroad a few years earlier, but with a smaller town feel, almost like a Spanish version of historic Charleston in my home state of South Carolina, where I went to college.
The historic charm of Cartagena, Colombia’s Old Town attracts tourists from all over the world, and it’s both is the center of the tourist industry as well as the main downtown area and home to lots of government offices and businesses catering to locals.
It’s also where you’ll find a lot of the best restaurants, museums, nightlife, and other things to do in Cartagena.
Spending some time exploring Cartagena’s Old City is an absolute must on any trip!
Something like a walking tour can be a good way to learn more about its history and get an introduction to getting around the city, but you can also explore on your own.
I’ll go into more detail on the history of Cartagena’s Walled City below and the main highlights of what to see, but first, let me take a moment to tell you why I always encourage people to stay here.
Why You Should Consider Staying in Cartagena’s Walled City
If you read my guide to the best areas to stay in Cartagena, you’ll see that’s why I recommend it as the best area to stay. It’s very safe, it’s very walkable, and there are lots of good options for nearly all budgets.
Plus, you get to really immerse yourself in all that historic charm of Cartagena’s Old City!
On the high end, Casa San Agustín is tough to beat. The Santa Clara and Santa Teresa are both in beautiful colonial convents. The Casona del Colegio is a nice value for a luxury boutique, and the Hotel Movich might have the best rooftop bar and bar view in the city.
The Sophia Hotel and Casa Claver Loft Boutique, which has multi-room apartments, as well as Townhouse Boutique, which has a nice rooftop bar, are nice midrange options. Meanwhile, the Casa India Catalina and Hotel Don Pedro de Heredia are nice budget friendly options.
Finally, there are a number of hostels in the Centro too, the best of which are the Casa Movida, El Viajero, and Clock Hostel.
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A Short History of the Old Town of Cartagena
The history of Cartagena’s Walled City predates not only the walls themselves, but even the arrival of the Spanish.
The indigenous peoples of Cartagena had a small settlement of fishermen named Calamarí (or Karmairi, depending on source) located on this small island between the bay and the Caribbean and flanked by mangrove swamps.
When Spanish conquistador Pedro de Heredia arrived in January 1533, he found the Calamarí settlement abandoned, its inhabitants likely fearing Heredía and his men were there on a slave raid as other Spanish explorers had done before.
Heredia was looking for a place to establish a settlement.
Despite the enormous and well protected bay, Heredia actually first rejected the site because it had no source of fresh water.
However, failing to find a better place, he returned here several months later to found San Sebastian de Cartagena on June 1, 1533.
It soon came to be known as Cartagena de Indias to differentiate it from the city of the same name in Spain.
Gold from tomb raiding expeditions, many of them led by Heredia himself, helped the fledgling colony grow into an important trading port in the growing network of Spanish trade in the Caribbean.
That made it a target for pirates and Spain’s enemies, and it was attacked numerous times in its early days. The barely decade old settlement was attacked for the first time by French corsairs in 1544.
French attackers arrived again in 1559. Englishman John Hawkins raided it in 1568. In 1569, first a raid, and then a devastating fire destroyed much of the original old Cartagena.
However, the most infamous early attack came in 1586, when Francis Drake sacked Cartagena. Drake burned over 200 homes and threatened to destroy the cathedral being built before the city’s residents agreed to pay him a hefty ransom.
It was this attack that finally spurred the transformation of the Old Town of Cartagena, which had up to that point been mostly wooden and mud buildings with nothing but crude wooden walls to protect it into the stone Walled City of Cartagena.
Plans and drawings for Cartagena’s walls by the Italian Engineer Bautista Antonelli were completed by 1594, and work began in 1610 on the first section of Cartagena’s walls, the Baluarte de Santo Domingo.
It stood in the spot where Drake’s men had entered the city after landing on the Bocagrande peninsula. It was completed in 1614.
While hard to imagine today, Cartagena’s walls were built first as a series of bastions, operating essentially as free standing forts at various strategic points around Cartagena’s Old City.
Only after many years, smaller curtain walls connected them to form one continuous wall.
In fact, the last section of the wall, the bomb proof barracks of Las Bovedas, was not completed until 1798, 188 years after work on the walls first began.
Other fortifications such as the Castillo San Felipe Fort and the forts of Bocachica at the entrance of the bay further protected the city.
Despite them, the city was attacked successfully one more time in 1697, by French privateer Jean Bernard Louis Desjeans, the Baron de Pointis.
Pointis’s attack would be the last successful raid on the Old City of Cartagena during the colonial era. The city repelled a massive invasion force led by Edward Vernon in the 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias, and no force would ever attempt a large scale assault again.
During the wars for independence, both the Spanish and patriot forces opted for protracted sieges rather than dare march on the forts and Walled City of Cartagena.
After independence, Cartagena fell into a long decline due to a number of interconnected factors.
The independence wars had devastated its population, especially the 105 day siege of Cartagena in 1815, where the Ciudad Amurallada earned its other nickname of La Heroica for its stubborn refusal to surrender to the Spanish reconquista forces, with many of its inhabitants starving.
Loss of the defense funds provided by the crown and state neglect after independence prevented recovery.
To top it off, Heredia’s original worry about a lack of fresh water also led to disease, including a horrible cholera epidemic in 1849 on which Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Times of Cholera is based.
Cartagena’s population only reached pre-independence numbers in the early 1900s, nearly a century after independence.
While we may look at the walls today as a charming attraction, some locals saw them as constraints on the city’s progress as it began to expand outward from the Walled City and Getsemaní to neighborhoods such as Manga and Bocagrande at the start of the 20th century.
Some openings in the walls were made in this period, and some sections were demolished.
They included the long section next to the Clocktower that once ran along the mangrove swamp and creek that separated Centro and Getsemaní.
This section of the wall was destroyed when the swamp and creek were filled in with land during the creation of the commercial district of La Matuna.
Nearly all of the walls that encased Getsemaní were also demolished around this time too.
This is why when people talk about the Walled City today, they usually think of Getsemaní as separate, although it was technically part of the historic colonial Walled City of Cartagena too.
Fortunately, by the 1930s, a combination of civic pride, increased interest in preservation, and the beginnings of tourism in the city helped save the rest of the walls from a similar fate.
The UNESCO designation along with the many tourists who flock to to the city annually help ensure the continued preservation of what remains of Cartagena’s Walled City.
Things to Do in the Walled City of Cartagena
Exploring the Walled City is a must do on any trip to Cartagena, and there’s a quite a bit to do and see here.
In this section, I’ll go over the best things to see in the Old Town of Cartagena.
Just Stroll and Take in the Charm
Honestly, the best thing to do in Cartagena’s Walled City is just to stroll the charming streets, taking in the colorful colonial architecture and flower covered balconies.
Be on the lookout for the elaborate door knockers on the big wooden doors, used as signs during the colonial era of status and profession. For example, iguanas and lizards meant aristocrats lived there, lions adorned the homes of military officers, and fish marked the homes of sailors and merchants.
Consider a Walking Tour
You can wander aimlessly if you want, but you could also do a guided tour.
A guided tour is a nice way to learn more about the city’s history, and give you some good reference points on getting around.
This group walking tour is highly regarded and a good price, and it takes you through the main sites in the Walled City of Cartagena and Getsemaní. I checked it out for myself on a recent visit. You can read my full review here, but I thought it was really well done and a good value. It’s technically a free tour but you can book online and prepay the tip, which I found convenient. There is also another free walking tour that leaves daily at 10 am from near the Hotel Santa Teresa.
If you’d like a more exclusive experience, consider booking a tour with our travel agency partner. They have a private city tour that goes to several of Cartagena’s most popular attractions and concludes with a walking tour of the Old Town, and they also offer a private walking tour of just the Old City and neighboring Getsemaní.
You can get 20% off either of those as well as their full catalog of tours in Cartagena and other places in Colombia with the code ExploreColombia20, by the way.
Stroll the Wall Itself
Whether you do a guided tour or not, be sure to spend some time strolling up on the wall itself. Most of the remaining walls are open to pedestrians.
It’s one of my favorite things about Cartagena, so I’d take the time to climb up and walk some of it while you take in the views of the city on one side and the Caribbean sea on the other.
The Caribbean sea view from atop the Baluarte de Santo Domingo, where the closed down Café del Mar used to be located, has a Cartagena and Colombia flag that is a great photo.
This is also one of the best vantage points to watch the sunset from the wall.
Learn More About Cartagena’s History at the Museums
If you want to learn more about the history of those walls and the city, there are several good museums inside Cartagena’s Walled City.
While the Castillo San Felipe, the best historic site, is actually located just outside the Walled City, you can learn a lot about how it, the walls, and other fortifications of Cartagena worked in conjunction at the Museo Naval, my favorite museum in Cartagena.
Located around the backside of the San Pedro Claver Chruch, there are really good dioramas depicting the attacks of Drake and Vernon here. There are also exhibits on Cartagena’s crucial role in Colombian independence and the modern Colombian Navy, including Colombia’s little known role in the Korean War.
You can also find some good historical exhibits at the Palacio de la Inquisición, which doubles as a Cartagena history museum and museum of the Inquisition. Just across Bolívar Plaza, you can also find the Cartagena Gold Museum, which is always free.
Finally, for art lovers, the Cartagena Museum of Modern Art might be worth a visit.
Learn more about all of these and other museums in my complete guide to the best museums in Cartagena.
See the Historic Plazas
There are a number of neat plazas in the Walled City of Cartagena that are worth checking out.
You’ll find the larger Plaza de los Coches and Plaza de la Aduana by the Clocktower. Neither has much shade, but you can enjoy a beer at the famous Donde Fidel in the Plaza de los Coches in the evening. The city occasionally has events or tourist markets set up here too.
If you want to sit and hang out for a minute, the best plaza to do that is the Parque Bolívar.
I used to sit here and try to complete crossword puzzles while drinking street tinto coffee with loosies during breaks back when I worked downtown. It had been recently redone with nice new benches on our visit in the summer of 2024.
There’s a lot of shade here too.
In the evening, you can often find groups presenting traditional Afro-Colombian dance and music such as Mapalé and cumbia in the Parque Bolívar or the plaza nearby next to the Cathedral.
The Plaza de San Diego is also a good spot to sit and relax for a minute.
There are usually a good number of souvenir vendors set up here too, and, of course, tinto vendors. There are also several restaurants with tables here, and you can find a few places with outdoor tables in the Parque Fernandez de Madrid too.
If you want a coffee a step above a street tinto, head to the Plaza de Santo Domingo. There used to be tourist trap restaurants here, but now the Café San Alberto, the most awarded coffee in Colombia, has a large location, or what they call a “coffee temple”, here.
Be sure to get a photo with the famous Botero statue of the Mujer reclinada, commonly called the fat lady, here too!
See the Historic Churches and Convents
Many of the above plazas are located next to or in front of the historic churches of Cartagena’s Old City.
The neatest church in Cartagena is the San Pedro Claver Church, where Pope Francis gave a mass on his visit to Colombia. It can be toured for a small entrance fee.
Besides seeing the sanctuary where you’ll find Claver’s remains under the altar, you can see his living quarters, and there is a museum of religious artifacts and and small historic and contemporary art galleries here.
The inner courtyard area is also really beautiful.
The other two most impressive colonial churches are the Cartagena Cathedral that Drake almost destroyed, known as the Catedral de Santa Catalina de Alejandría, and the Santo Domingo Church. Both are generally closed but do open at times for masses, when you can respectfully peek inside.
The convents of Santa Teresa and Santa Clara are both swanky hotels, but are still neat to see from the outside. The hotels have great restaurants that are open to the public if you want to see the inside too.
The Iglesia de Santo Toribio, by the Parque Fernandez de Madrid, and the convent of San Diego, now an art school, are also neat to check out from the outside.
Finally, the University of Cartagena is housed in the Convent of San Agustín, with it’s pretty square shaped tower.
Go Shopping
One of the things I think is kind of neat about Cartagena, Colombia’s Old City compared to one like say Panama Viejo, is that while it’s a tourist mecca, it’s still Cartagena’s Centro, or the Cartagena downtown, so to speak, and remains the center of commerce and government today.
This is why locals mostly just refer to it as Centro, and you’ll pretty much never hear it called the Ciudad vieja or Cartagena vieja.
It also means that there are lots of shops catering to both locals as well as tourists.
There’s no shortage of little boutiques selling clothes at just about any price range. You can also stop into La Serrezuela Mall, built inside a remodeled bull ring, and selling mostly higher end brands.
For souvenirs, there are nice tourist shops in Las Bovedas, once the bomb proof barracks for Cartagena’s colonial defenders, and the last section of Cartagena’s walls to be completed.
They are often mistakenly called dungeons because they were used for a short time during the Spanish reoccupation of Cartagena as a jail for supporters of independence.
There’s another decent tourist shop located diagonal from the back of the Cathedral that has a pretty good selection. Plus, there are tons of street vendors all over Cartagena’s Walled City (more on those below).
For art, check out the street vendors by the Cathedral (as well as in Getsemaní).
My personal second favorite souvenir to take home to people, after a nice bag of coffee, is a pack of cocadas from the Portal de los Dulces.
The Portal de los Dulces is located in the archways of the buildings across from the Clocktower, and there are lots of stands here selling all sorts of traditional sweets. Whether you get some to take home or not, it’s worth a stop here to try a cocada and any other traditional Cartagena sweet that catches your eye.
Where to Eat and Drink in the Cartagena Old City
Of course, with all there is to explore in Cartagena’s Walled City, you’ll need to stop to refuel and cool down!
Fortunately, there’s no shortage of places to eat, drink, and party in the Walled City of Cartagena.
Best Restaurants in Cartagena Old Town
Below are some of our favorite restaurants in Cartagena’s Walled City. You might also want to check out my post on the best restaurants in Cartagena, and also my picks for the best traditional dishes to try in Cartagena, too.
Fine Dining and Higher End ($$$$)
For fine dining, Carmen Cartagena is absolutely terrific and offers both a multi-course menu or the option to order individual menu items. We also always enjoyed Alma and El Jardín in the courtyard of the Santa Clara is another favorite of ours.
The Harry Sasson in the Santa Teresa is also in a lovely courtyard. We’ve actually only ordered the “bar food” appetizers there, and the crab nachos and spicy pork rib tips are among my favorite dishes in all of Cartagena and perfect for sharing in a group. They are also very reasonably priced, but the main dishes are a good bit pricier.
Finally, La Vitrola is one of Cartagena’s longest running and most famous restaurants and a bit of a throwback, but you often need reservations well in advance.
Midrange and Nice Casual Dining ($$$)
For nice midrange dining, Candé is terrific and often has live music and dance performances.
Buena Vida Marisquería became a favorite of ours almost as soon as it opened. They have a nice mix of classic seafood dishes along with some more creative ones and a nice rooftop bar.
La Cevichería, made famous by Antony Bourdain, is another favorite of ours and lives up to the hype around it. Their ceviche is terrific, but they have a variety of other dishes too.
For breakfast or brunch, La Brioche is terrific for full plates or coffee and pastries, and they also do a great burger in the evening. Epoca also does a great breakfast and brunch.
Cheap Eats in Cartagena’s Old City ($-$$)
For reasonably priced sit down service, La Mulata has always been a favorite of ours for traditional costeño food at reasonable prices. San Valentin is also very popular for having good food at very reasonable prices.
Crepes and Waffles is a local favorite that has a large menu, including a salad bar and a decent selection of vegetarian dishes. Plus, they have great ice cream for dessert!
El Espiritú Santo is a long running favorite of locals and has both a very fairly priced menu and daily specials. Many other restaurants also offer daily lunch specials often called corrientes or a menu ejecutivo that are generally very reasonably priced.
You also absolutely must try an Arepa de Huevo in Cartagena! This Cartagena favorite is more like an empanada than an arepa and is stuffed with egg and, usually, ground beef.
There are lots of street stalls and vendors where you can buy one, but the best are at Donde Magola, located next to the Éxito San Diego supermarket. They have different varieties of meat fillings (my favorite is the chicharrón). Most fry stands will also make one with just an egg if you don’t eat meat.
See my guide to the best street food in Cartagena for more ideas of what street foods to try.
Bars, Clubs, and Nightlife in Cartagena’s Walled City
The best nightlife in Cartagena is located within the Walled City and Getsemaní. There are also a plenty of good spots to just enjoy a drink (or three).
Where to Go for Relaxed Drinks
Townhouse’s rooftop was always one of my favorite places for cocktails, and there is good appetizer style food there too. They also do a nice all you can eat and drink brunch on the weekends.
El Mirador has a great view of the Clocktower.
Both of those are better night time spots due to the angle of the sunset, but if you want some sunset drinks, there are some nice options too.
Hotel Movich’s rooftop bar has arguably the best view in the city.
Boticario at the Santa Clara and Casa Pura Rooftop don’t have quite as nice of views but have better drinks and nice atmospheres too.
If you want a cigar, my favorite spot was always Tabaco y Ron. The tiny hole in the wall Distrito Tabaco was a new discovery on a recent trip, and is also nice.
The outdoor tables at Donde Fidel by the Clocktower are great for a drink and people watching. The Clock Pub nearby does its best imitation of an American bar, playing rock music and serving bar food. It’s a pretty good spot to watch a soccer game and one of the few places that regularly shows NFL.
I’ve heard good things about Mondo, and El Barón has good cocktails too. While pricey, the El Coro inside the Santa Clara also has some tasty and unique concoctions. So does Al Quimico, which becomes a bit more nightclubby at night but is relaxed in the day and early evening.
Where to Go Dancing
Speaking of night clubs, La Movida and La Jugada are among the city’s glitziest and most exclusive, and they attract both locals and tourists.
Bazurto Social Club, which used to be located in Getsemaní and was long a favorite of ours, reopened in a new location on the Plaza Santo Domingo in the Walled City in 2024. We had a fabulous time that brought back memories here during our visit in the summer of 2024. It’s the best place to go to get a taste of local music champeta, a blend of African rhythms and urban Colombian lyrics born in Cartagena’s barrios.
Crazy Salsa is a tiny little salsa bar located just near the Clocktower. Evissa, located above Clock Pub, has a gorgeous rooftop patio overlooking the Clocktower, frequent live music, and a fun atmosphere.
See my guide to Cartagena nightlife to learn about some other places, like in nearby Getsemaní.
Some Additional Practical Tips for Enjoying the Old City of Cartagena
Here I’ll go over some other tips and things to be aware of when exploring Cartagena’s Old City.
Getting Around the Walled City
It’s common to just refer to this entire area as the Walled City, the Ciudad amurallada or simply Centro in Spanish.
However, there are different sectors, or neighborhoods within the Old City in Cartagena. It can come in handy to know these when dealing with taxis or asking directions.
- Centro: The area around the Clocktower where there are lots of businesses and government offices.
- San Diego: The area in the northeast corner of the Walled City that tends to be a bit quieter but is also mostly hotels and restaurants today.
- La Matuna: A mostly commercial area that divides Centro and Getsemaní.
I’d recommend trying to learn a few main streets and routes to and from where you’re staying and landmarks like the Clocktower your first day in Cartagena, as it can be easy to get turned around in Cartagena’s Old City.
Safety in the Walled City of Cartagena
For the most part, the Walled City is very safe.
There is generally a heavy police presence, and you can generally feel safe walking at about any time around Cartagena’s historic Old Town. I would still advise extra caution and awareness early in the morning and late at night though. If possible, avoid streets that are completely empty or that are not lit up well.
I appreciated during our visit in the summer of 2024 that the new mayor is no longer allowing the women working the world’s oldest profession to congregate around the Clocktower at night, which had become a bit of an eyesore in my opinion.
Dealing with Street Vendors and Performers
One of the most frequent complaints about Cartagena is the street vendors, who can be aggressive. They sell tours, bracelets, hats, sunglasses, cigars, and lots of other things. Also, the street rappers have gained quite a reputation for being pushy too.
They’ll approach you on the street as well as come up to your table if you’re sitting outside. Honestly, there were times while I was living in Cartagena when I avoided sitting at outdoor tables entirely for this reason.
I will say though, on our most recent visit to Cartagena in mid-2024, I feel like they were generally not as pushy as before. That tracks with recent changes implemented by the new mayor.
Still, the best advice here is to wag your finger no and say “No, gracias.” Many will try to start a conversation by asking where you’re from, but I’d try to engage them as little as possible.
If you don’t want to tip the rappers just ignore them and also give them a “No, gracias.” Keeping some spare change to give them if they give you a really hard time isn’t a bad idea either.
Now of course, if you do really want to buy something, take a look, and definitely negotiate the price. For the rappers, if you want to listen, enjoy, but expect to tip them.
All of this also goes for the Palenqueras, the women wearing colorful dresses with baskets of fruit. Traditionally, they were in fact fruit sellers, and historically, they came from the town of Palenque, a town founded by escaped slaves.
About a decade ago, snapping a photo with them became really popular, and I feel confident they make more money posing for photos today than they ever did selling fruit.
It is a nice photo, just be aware you’ll need to tip, and that goes even if you only take a photo of just the ladies without yourself in it.
Ready to explore the Walled City of Cartagena yourself?
There you have it, a complete guide to the history, highlights, and how to explore Cartagena’s historic Walled City. I hope you found this guide useful in planning your own trip or just learning a bit more about Cartagena.
Most importantly, if you do explore it and the rest of Cartagena on your own, I hope you have a wonderful time and are as charmed and captivated by it as I was!
Please do check out all the other content on the site to help you plan, and do share any favorite experience in or outside the Walled City in the comments below!
Cheers and Happy Exploring!
Source Notes:
- Image Source for historic maps of Cartagena and bay: Cartografía y relaciones históricas de ultramar. Tomo V, Colombia, Panamá, Venezuela / Servicio Histórico Militar, Servicio Geográfico del Ejército; used under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, taken from: https://bibliotecavirtual.defensa.gob.es/BVMDefensa/es/consulta/registro.do?id=217744
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