Cartagena, Spain

The port of Cartagena, located on the Mediterranean’s Costa Calida, has been prized since Carthaginian times and there are traces of several cultures who have all left their mark on the city's heritage. Constructed in 223 BC , the old town of Carthaginia was Hannibal’s capital city on the Iberian Peninsula. The area to the east of the city, with his prolific silver mines and the natural harbour, was of great importance, and in 209 BC Cartagina was taken by the Romans. The city has always been tied to the sea, with Cartagena being the home of Spain’s chief Mediterranean Naval base. This is largely due to his deep, spacious bay that's dominated by four hills and can be easily defended. (The letter 'g' in Cartagena is pronounced as an 'h'.)

The Currency is the Euro.

The details of our visit

We did not join a tour but explored Cartagena on foot by ourselves. The Roman Theatre was the usual open air semi-circular type shown below:

We took the lift to the castle, unsurprisingly built atop a hill, and explored it at length, detailed below:

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