Cartagena has been a population center for more than
3,000 years. It has been conquered by
many armies including Carthgoeans, Romans and Moors. There have been several city walls encircling
it, which were destroyed in the first, third and sixth centuries and rebuilt by
the conquerors. The remaining city wall
has a two meter Roman base, that is visible with its large stones and a taller
wall was built adding another four meters constructed with smaller stones on
top of it, in the 18th century.
Cartagena has a long history as a military base over the
centuries. The former military harbor is
now the cruise ship terminal. There were two other cruise ships in port today,
including Royal Caribbean Independence of
the Seas. Cartagena’s population is
about 220,000. Its plastic manufacturing
companies have moved out of the city, giving the air a fresher smell. The region is also known for melon
production. There is even a melon
liqueur produced from the fruit.
Cartagena was a provincial capital under different administrations since
228 BC when it was founded as Qart Hadast,
on an ancient site, after the general Hasdrubal was defeated by the Romans in
Carthage, on the African north coast. It
was to be the gateway to conquering the southern Iberian Peninsula. However, Qart Hadast was captured by the Romans
in 209 BC and renamed Carthago Nova or New Carthage. A time line showed that there were at least
five battles between 216 BC and 202 BC. It has been destroyed in wars several times
including the first and third centuries AD and most recently during the Spanish
Civil War in the 1930s. The Cartagena region was independent until 1873, even
sending a letter to the United States of America asking to become a state
rather than joining Spain. The city was
destroyed by the Spanish soon after.
The group of 36 strolled along Calle Mayor, a major
shopping street paved with granite bricks and closed to vehicles. There was hardly anyone in the street as the
shops were not open until 10 a.m. The
buildings were built in the late 19th century and early 20th century after the
city’s destruction in the 1870s. The
buildings have no space between them. Iglesia del Carman is a church, located
on this street. There are many modern
buildings built on ruins of previous times.
Today, the city is actively excavating and preserving ruins that are
found when foundations are dug for a possible new building. A fine example is the first century Roman theater
that was revealed in the 1980s and has been partly excavated. A museum explains the history of the area in
the past 2,000 years including the building of the Cathedral of Santa Maria
that adjoins it. The church is a ruin
having been reconstructed in the early 1900s then bombed during the Spanish
Civil War. Across from the museum
entrance is the old City Hall built with a marble exterior and restored since
1980.
This week is the Fiestas de Carthaginses y Romanos –
Festival of Carthagans and Romans – where people reenact the battles of 209 BC. We saw “soldiers” of both sides and their
women in the ancient costumes strolling in the streets, in anticipation of the
battle later today. When we finished the tour of the Roman theater ruins the
sun was out and by noon the temperature was 26 going to a high of 28 later in
the day.
We returned to the bus, before today’s Festival parade
started, and were taken to the Punic Wall Interpretive Centre which houses the
excavation of a third century BC defensive Punic Wall and the old Ermita de San
Jose crypt which held the remains of the dead residents of the monastery during
the 16th to 19th centuries. We were dropped off at the ship about 1 pm and
hurried to the Oceanview café to find a table, since most of the 15 or 20
excursion buses, with 30 to 40 people each, would be returning soon. After lunch, we walked along Deck 14 and 15,
there were several hundred people either sunbathing or swimming in one of three
pools. Then we went to a talk about Acupuncture, took a break for a frappe,
followed by a 40 minute presentation about Land and Sea combination voyages and
finally presentation about the British territory of Gibraltar.
The dress code for dinner tonight was Evening Chic, which
is a less formal fancy dress night.
Ladies are encouraged to wear cocktail dresses and men to wear suits.
The six or seven staff photographers set up stations near the six different
dining rooms. Lots of people stopped to
have portraits taken.
Tonight we ordered as appetizers Yellow Corn Soup and
Tomato and Watermelon Salad with crumbled Feta Cheese. The entreés chosen were
Shrimp Scampi over linguine and Beef Tournado with mashed potato and steamed
vegetables. The dessert was warm Apple
Crumble with ice cream. After dinner we
danced to the house band, Front Row, met Jan and Alan for drinks and went to
the Equinox Theater to see the show by the production cast singers and
dancers. There was time to dance for the
Front Row band’s second set, before checking the Casino’s VLTs.
When day had ended we had logged 7.5 miles.
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