Letting yourself be infected by the wonders of Cartagena is very simple, just walk its streets and feel the breeze caressing your face. The greatest cultural, artistic and architectural wealth of the city is concentrated in the historic center and more in the seven museums that speak of the idiosyncrasy and ancestral value.
Undoubtedly, in its museums the history of the country is concentrated in pieces of religious, military, Afro-Caribbean art, gold elements and much more.
Going to Cartagena is soaking up culture, history and tradition. It is letting yourself be enveloped by painting, the navigation stories of the Colombian Navy, gold collections, religious and Afro-Caribbean art. And the historical legacy that protects each of the museums of the walled city.
To visit them, it is recommended to use sunscreen, a map in hand and soak up a rich cultural baggage.
Saint Peter Claver
On this site is the largest collection of religious art that Cartagena has. This space is dedicated to honoring the memory of Pedro Claver, a Spanish missionary and Jesuit priest who went down to posterity for his dedication to mitigating the suffering of the slaves in the port of Cartagena de Indias where he lived most of his life.
The wooden floor of the time is still preserved, its walls are impregnated with mysticism, the life story of San Pedro Claver, and some characters from the collection.
It also has an important collection made up of works of African and Afro-Caribbean art, with Haitian paintings, and African masks, rare, but which reflect everyday life situations, simplicity, imagination, spontaneity, protection and the triumph of life. , feelings, fears, and the search for protection and harmony.
It is located at Calle 31 #3-26, from Monday to Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Caribbean Navy
How did the Spanish conquistadores defeat the fierce Indians of the Caribbean? With that question the tour begins at the Naval Museum of the Caribbean in Plaza Santa Teresa. Going into it is to feel the fight against the Spanish Empire and how the Indians managed to rescue its identity. In its 3,500 square meters, the museum exposes the history of the city, as well as the history of navigation and the Colombian Navy. It is divided into two main halls: the “Colonial”, which houses the “Naval Gallery” exhibition, presided over by a robotic admiral who receives the visitor with a traditional military salute and in which an extraordinary experience is lived with projections, weapons and interactive modules; and the “Republican” in which you will see pirate assaults, forts and galleons that represent the history of the city.
Museum of Modern Art
Right in the Plaza San Pedro is the Museum of Modern Art, through a red rustic wooden gate that reveals some cobbled walls that reveal its historical richness. On the site there are permanent collections and temporary exhibitions that allow you to admire the techniques of renowned Latin American artists, including great Colombian masters such as Alejandro Obregón, Enrique Grau, Cecilia Porras, among others. It is spacious, quiet and serene. The first has five exhibition halls that let you enjoy the exotic combination of acrylic works on canvas, iron sheets, granite sculptures, serigraphy, among others. It was inaugurated in 1960, being the first museum of modern art in Colombia and in its rooms there is a magnificent collection of more than 400 works between paintings and sculptures, mostly by coastal artists.
Historical Museum of Cartagena
This museum has particular characteristics, in addition to all the history that it keeps on its walls. It has large old bells dating from the eighteenth century, its black walls give the feeling of death, power and a gloomy appearance, characteristics of the time. Really, to be in this place is to run into the Indian ancestors of the Caribbean, with the inquisitors, pirates, Africans, Spaniards and Creoles, heroes and anonymous who in one way or another forged the historical memory of Colombia.
The Historical Museum of Cartagena takes the visitor to know the culture of other times, the history and the thought of its people. Inside is the patio of the cistern, the place where the gallows and the guillotine are located.
Zenu Gold Museum
Crossing Bolívar Park is the Zenú Gold Museum, visited by many tourists eager to learn about the pre-Hispanic history of Colombia. There is a complete collection of gold, fabrics of water and earth, the gold of the Caribbean plains, and curious small pieces of human representation.
This place is part of the Banco de la República network of gold museums and is one of the most interesting places in Cartagena. It was opened in the city in 1982 and houses a sample of more than 500 gold and silver pieces, dozens of ceramic pieces and others that reflect the artistic manifestations of the Zenú culture.
In this museum you learn about the territory occupied by the Zenúes and the social aspects of this tradition, such as goldsmith work, the economy, the importance of animals and regional biodiversity, topics that are reflected in the representations of fauna. Likewise, the importance of women is highlighted, masterfully embodied in the multiple female representations, as a fundamental axis of social reproduction.
Rafael Núñez House Museum
The Rafael Núñez House Museum honors the four times president of the Cartagena republic, lawyer, journalist and, as if this were not enough, composer of the lyrics of the national anthem. It is a two-story wooden house located in the ‘El Cabrero’ neighborhood near the sea, green and white in color, full of the spirit of order, far from luxuries, but very elegant. It preserves the simplicity and elegance of the Cartagena who is remembered today, through elements that remain intact, and are exhibited in each of the rooms, personal belongings and art collections.
The Presentation House museum
In this tour you cannot miss the exhibition of local, national and international artists. The Museum House Presentation, a symbol of Cartagena, so much so, that even Fermina Daza (protagonist of the novel “Love in the Times of Cholera”) studied in this architectural jewel. It has five exhibition rooms in which contemporary art is exhibited. In one of the rooms there is a Yamaha G5 grand piano on which the most important composers of the city offer recitals of classical and contemporary music.
The museum also offers recitals, small concerts, set with the exhibition of the moment to combine art and culture.