A Couple of Days in Cartagena.
Hola Chicos!
Last week my husband had to travel down to Cartengena for work and I was fortunate enough to tag along for the journey.
Cartagena is located in the south east of Spain in the Murcia region. We travelled from Madrid to Cartagena by car and it took just over four hours on Spain’s incredible motorways. Travel by train is also possible and our friends who travelled by train reported that it took five and a half hours and that it was an enjoyable journey.
Cartagena is a sea port and naval base that dates back to 220BC. Cartagena has a spectacular natural harbour with a geography that made it very attractive to the Carthaginians, Romans and Muslims because it is surrounded by coastal mountain ranges that provide the port excellent defensive points and also made attacking the port incredibly difficult. Wandering around Cartagena the Roman and Muslim heritage is clearly visible.
Many of the streets and town squares are made from marble which seems very strange at first and perhaps a tad decadent when you come from Australia, because in Australia the price of a piece of marble for a kitchen benchtop would set you back at least a month in wages. Imagine, whole streets made of the stuff, but I guess in the days of building the town squares and streets the locals were simply using the available stone from their region.
There is a strong military presence in Cartagena with its many memorials to the fallen, the Naval museum and the Military Arsenal. The Navantia ship building yards are also a dominant presence.
The Museo Nacional de Arqueologia Subacuatica (Underwater archaeology museum) is a fascinating modern museum that is located on the harbour front. It is worth a visit as it focusses on ship wrecks and their rich cargos but also explains how underwater archaeology is undertaken.
I was also surprised to find that Cartagena has a Roman amphitheater and Roman Barrio complete with Roman Baths that date back in time between 5 and 1 BC. The fascinating thing about both of these monuments is that they were only discovered by archaeologists in 1988 and were not declared a national asset until 1999. Noting that Australia only has a European history of around 220 years, it is difficult to believe that I was standing on the stage of a Roman Theatre that predates Christ. It is difficult to wrap your mind around the actual age of the place and it is almost impossible to imagine that sometime around three to six thousand years ago seven thousand people including the Roman Emperor Augustus sat in this very theatre.
During our stay we had the opportunity to add to our collection of Spanish ceramics. We visited a fabulous shop called cento de artesania de cartegena which sells only handicrafts made locally. Our favourite piece is a jarra de cinco picos or a five peak jug. This jug is used at a wedding and it is filled with wine. One peak is for the groom to drink from, one for the bride, one for the best man, one for the maid of honor and the last is for the priest. Spanish tradition says it will bring the couple good luck on their marriage forever.
Wow! What a surprise you were Cartagena.
On the last day of our short stay in Cartagena we were sitting in a bar on the water front enjoying a beer as the sun was setting. We were commenting on the fortress that we could see on the hill top to our left, when our friends sent us a WhatsApp photo of the view from the fortress. Surreal to think we were looking up at them as they were looking down at us. We will definitely be revisiting Cartagena especially to walk up to see Castillo San Julian and the wonderful view.
Hasta Luego chicos y mil besos!