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Our Wakes: 2015

Cartagena: (11-13 July 2015)
After having followed miles of  Spanish coast covered in concrete apartment blocks or large  fields of greenhouses, we stopped in Cartagena. Finally, a city that has something interesting to  offer . The harbor of Cartagena is located in a well protected bay and the hills at the entrance  are covered in old fortresses. No doubt this harbour has  a rich history due to its unique location  and good protection from bad weather. In fact the harbor of Cartagena was already being used in  the early centuries AD.  It is no surprise that inside the city there are numerous archeological  places dating from the Roman Empire. Today, nobody wants to start building in Cartagena because  if during the construction you find any historical artifacts you have to call the archeologist who  may delay your project or simply cancel it because of the historical value of the finding.  We  visited a roman theatre as well as the public baths. We learned during our visit that this place  was very important because a lot of deals were made nearby. Next to the baths you had several  meeting rooms and often banquets were organized.  Nearby, an archeologist opened a door and gave us access to a Roman road located under a  building. We could see traces of the wheels on the pavement. The archeologist told us that  nearby there were a lot of artifacts from other periods, such as the Byzantine.Today the city is  full of 4 and 5 floor buildings that were build soon after the war, at a time when archaeology was  not important.   The city also has an interesting underwater archaeology museum where the whole process of  discovery and protection of wrecks is explained. Often, once the archaeologists have finished  inventorying a wreck, they will bury it in sand and protect it with a cage for future generations.  Only a few wrecks are brought to the surface because of the cost involved. Catagena is also a big  military base of the Spanish army including a submarine base. However, today the major activity  in Cartagena is the loading of ships with ores. Containers are also handled in this harbour. 
Cartagena port entrance Public Baths Via Romana Roman Theatre Top of this Page Previous Page Next Page