Church of San Pedro Claver - Servant of the Enslaved

Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

A stop on Cartagena Walled City Walk, a free self-guided tour.

The stone church in front of you is named for Peter Claver, a Spanish Jesuit who spent about 40 years in Cartagena serving the enslaved Africans brought into the port.

When slave ships docked, Claver went aboard and into the holding pens with food, water and medicine. He cared for the sick, learned to communicate through African interpreters, and later visited plantations, staying with the enslaved rather than with their owners. When he made his final vows in 1622, he signed himself the servant of the Africans forever. He is estimated to have baptized around 300,000 people.

He did not end slavery, and he worked within the colonial church of his time. But in a city built partly on human trafficking, he chose to stand with its victims. He died here in 1654 and was made a saint in 1888. His remains lie beneath the church's altar.

If the church is open, step inside, then visit the cloister next door where he lived.

Getting here: Walk to the south-west corner of Plaza de la Aduana and continue a few steps to the small plaza in front of the church.

Did you know?: Peter Claver is a patron saint of Colombia and of enslaved people, and his feast day is celebrated on September 9.

Photo op: Step back across the small plaza to fit the church's whole stone facade and dome in one frame.

More on Wikipedia: Peter Claver · Jesuits · Atlantic slave trade

Church of San Pedro Claver - Servant of the Enslaved

Stops on this tour