Tour around the monuments in Cartagena de Indias

Monuments are one of my personal favorites, it is because of that that I decide to walk around the outdoors museum that is the Old City in Cartagena de Indias and be amazed by those bronze giants.

Monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

I start by the side of Camellon de Los Martires, diagonal to Parque Centenario and with a privileged view to the amazing Torre del Reloj, that these days looks more beautiful than ever because of the rain. The plaza I am in has the name of the monument that is located here, the one of the distinguished Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.

He is seated in his chair, writing some of the glorious pages of his amazing pieces, with an inkwell in the table and his legs crossed, that denote the elegance that he got his inspiration from. The monument was built and inaugurated in the year 2007 to honor the visit of the King and Queen of Spain, Juan Carlos I and Sofia of Borbon.

Monument in honor of the Korea soldiers

I decide to look away and keep walking by the wall and an unbelievable view of the Bay of the Spirits, which is amazing to come to see the sunset sitting in the dock. A few meters after, I arrive at Parque La Marina, where, prostrated in grain of sand, are a couple monuments that honor the soldiers that combated in the Korean War. There are four total, two soldiers, a ship and an anchor that perfectly compliments the serenity that can be felt in the park.

Besides breathing a different air in this park for being one of the lungs of the city, the giant fountain, and the fresh air that comes from the sea, make this a garden where time can go by really easy. Besides, a picnic during the weekends is one of the best plans for Sundays, sitting in the shade around trees.

Monument to San Pedro Claver

After taking a couple pictures in the monument, I decided to keep going with my route. At the end of the Calle San Juan de Dios, I stop in one of the corners of the San Pedro Claver church, one of the most iconic churches of the city.

Between pigeons and tourists taking selfies, I see the monument that honors San Pedro, helped by the slave Enrique Grau. Two tangible statues, approximately two meters tall, are one of the attractions of this plaza, surrounded by restaurants, smiling palenqueras and street artists live music. Of course, I also take a picture to have a memory of the “slave of the slaves” that was canonized in 1888 by Pope Pio IX.

Monument to Juan Pablo II

I walk a few steps and I am at Plaza de la Proclamacion, right by the Santa Catalina de Alejandria Cathedral, another Catholic symbol of Cartagena de Indias. Here, between the joy of the locals and the stories of the coachmen is the monument to a former pope, Juan Pablo II. It was inaugurated in 2012, it was made with the intention of always having a figure of the “traveler Pope” in the Colombian Caribbean because his visit to Cartagena in 1986 was stamped in everyone’s heart forever.

Monument to the Alcatraz

A couple alcatraces flying, put on a pedestal are looking up to the sky as if they were never going back to where they came from. This monument is located at Avenida Santander, diagonal to one of the boquetillos that is an entrance to the Old City in Downtown.

With a couple benches to admire their beauty, it was restored in 2013 by the local administration and, as a popular belief, it is said that the sculptor Eladio Gil Zambrano, built the monument inspired in the poem by Eduardo Lemaitre called “los alcatraces.” There is no better place to tribute this poem than this one with the beautiful view of the sea and watching how real alcatraces fly down to capture food.

This is how the tour around the important monuments of Cartagena end. They never cease to amaze me, the secrets they hide and how they compliment they history of Cartagena makes them extra interesting.