Las Murallas - Walking the City Walls

Photo: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz), CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)

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

Climb up onto the wall here and look out toward the sea. You are standing on part of roughly 11 kilometers of stone walls and bastions built between 1614 and 1796. The arrow-shaped platforms that jut out are bastions, designed so defenders could fire along the face of the wall at anyone trying to climb it.

The walls were Spain's answer to a long string of attacks. Francis Drake took the city in 1586. In 1697 a French force under the Baron de Pointis captured and plundered it. Then in 1741 a huge British fleet under Admiral Edward Vernon arrived. Led by Blas de Lezo, the defenders held out, and the British were forced to withdraw, one of the greatest Spanish victories of the century.

The walls are broad enough to stroll along. They have little shade, so this is a great spot at sunset and a tough one at noon.

Walk north along the top of the wall and watch the old city on one side and the Caribbean on the other.

Getting here: From San Pedro Claver, walk west a block to the wall and take one of the ramps or stairs up onto the Baluarte de San Francisco Javier.

Did you know?: The 1741 siege lasted about two months, and the British force is said to have numbered more than 20,000 men - many of whom died of disease rather than in battle.

Photo op: From the top of the bastion, shoot along the curving wall with the sea on one side and the old city rooftops on the other.

More on Wikipedia: Cartagena, Colombia · Blas de Lezo · Battle of Cartagena de Indias

Las Murallas - Walking the City Walls

Stops on this tour