Cartagena

 

It’s May Day, Labor Day, so the town is filled with people and we were there for some unique sights. As we walked off the ship, a band marched down the street as we entered town. We encountered a bachelor party, the groom wearing a white horse costume. Then we saw a labor demonstration at city hall and finally a gay 90’s party.

The Carthaginians founded Cartagena in 300 BC. The Romans ruled here for 600 years. It has a well-protected harbor, served as the winter base for the Spanish armada, and remains a naval base today. The Town Hall is an impressive 3-sided building, but shrapnel holes are still visible from the Spanish Civil War. The Romans mined gold and silver here, then in the 1850s the mines produced zinc, iron, and tin. The mine owners began building Art Nouveau buildings along main street in the early 1900s. Balconies are on many of the houses to watch the military and religious parades. The windowed balconies could hide the women while they watched.

Roman Theater

In 1989, they discovered a 6000 seat Roman Theater underneath the houses. Fires destroyed had the area in the second century. Further into the city we came upon the former red-light district. As the area was razed to build apartments the ruins of a Roman bath were discovered in 2008. The archeological area was opened to the public in 2017. We saw the remains of a temple to Isis, numerous banquet rooms, and a large bath complex. This area was destroyed by fire in the 3^rd century AD.

The Roman Baths