Cartagena Things to Do

Ruins from the Carthaginian ages: the remains of the Punic rampart (built in 227 b.C.)
Ruins of the Roman Empire: the recently restored Roman theater of Carthago Nova.
The Roman Amphitheatre (I century a.C.): the Bullring was built on the ruins. Only some of the surrounding walls and part of the rooms under the stands are still visible.
Other roman remains are the Roman colonnade, the House of Fortune, the Decumanus and the Augusteum. The Torre Ciega (Blind Tower) was built by the Romans for burials rights, and it formed part of the Necropolis.
Santa María la Vieja Cathedral, from the XIII century, was irreversibly destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. It can be accessed from the Roman Theater Museum. A decorated floor of a Roman house of the I century b.C. can be found in the crypt. Also a Byzantine rampart can be found, between the Roman theater and the Cathedral.
The Concepción Castle (now Centre for Interpretation of the History of Cartagena) was reconstructed in the XIII century using big structures from the Amphitheater.
There are three important archaeological museums: the Roman Theater museum, the Municipal Archaeological Museum and ARQUA (National Museum of Subaquatic Archaeology).

La Mar de Músicas is a festival that takes place yearly in Cartagena since 1995. Every year the festival is dedicated to a country and the different musical genres of the country are represented. La Mar de Músicas also organises alternative activities such as cinema, literature and exhibitions dedicated to the invited country.
The festival is in July. Several places along the city are used as auditoria, such as the Old Cathedral, the Parade Ground of the Park of Artillery, the Auditorium Parque Torres and the Arab Castle.
The 8th edition (2002) was dedicated to “Cartagenas and Cartagos del Mundo”.

The hull of the submarine designed and constructed by Isaac Peral is permanently exposed at the quay Alfonso XII, in the seafront.
Isaac Peral (Cartagena, 1 June 1851 – Berlin, 22 May 1895) was a Spanish scientist, sailor and inventor. He invented a submarine for military use, being pioneer in the design of the hull, control systems and air systems. The Peral submarine was built in 1884. After some trials, the submarine was launched on 8th September 1888. It was 22 m, with a beam of 2.87 m and a draught of 2.76 m. It was able to displace 77 tonnes surfaced and 85 tonnes submerged. It could navigate ate 7.8 kn surfaced and 3 kn submerged. For the propulsion it was provided with two electric motors, 22 kW (30 hp) each. The energy was supplied by a battery of 613 elements. It had a torpedo launcher, three Schwarzkopf torpedoes, periscope and a sophisticated “apparatus of depth” which allowed the submarine to navigate submerged at the depth desired by the commandant, as well as the mechanisms required to navigate submerged towards the prefixed course. It was able to fire torpedoes under water while maintaining full propulsive power and control.

1 more image

The new museum, in the quay Alfonso XII, was inaugurated in November 2008. The Project of the architect Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra had been exposed in the exhibition “On-site: nueva arquitectura española dedicada a los proyectos arquitectónicos contemporáneos españoles”, in 2006, at MOMA (New York). Also the name has changed, as the former one was “Museo y Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Arqueológicas Submarinas”.
The museum keeps archaeological finds related with the sea traffic in the Mediterranean, since the Phoenician era, through Punic, Hellenistic and Roman periods. There are amphorae that were used for the transport of oil and wine; metallic materials; ivory, glass, etc.
Relevant findings are the two Phoenician boats (7th century BC) that were found at the coast of Mazarrón. The boat Mazarrón I with a major part of its freight is exhibited in the Museum, whereas Mazarrón II is still at the sea bottom but a video is projected that shows the works of preservation of this boat (a part of the video is also available at the web of the museum). Also from the Phoenician era are two elephant tusks that were part of a Phoenician freight found at Cabo de Palos.
Some of the pieces can be seen in the following link:
http://www.mcu.es/principal/docs/novedades/2008/ARQVA_Piezas.pdf
The guided visit is recommended for children; a bit disappointing for adults.

1 more image

The Museum was projected by the great architect Rafael Moneo and constitutes a brilliant solution to the different in level between the Media Cavea of the Theater and the street level. The Museum entrance is in the Palace of Pascual de Riquelme, in front of the City Hall. In this building there are temporal exhibitions. The corridor “Theater History” crosses underneath the street and contains some findings in the area: pottery. Then there are two rooms dedicated to the “Theater architecture” and “Theater and society”. Escalators join these rooms which are at different levels. In these rooms there are some capitals, statues, steles, stone altars and also models of the theater. On the top level starts the Archaeological Corridor that crosses under the old church of Santa María la Vieja. From that, the Theater is acceded at the level of the Media Cavea. From there, both Summa Cavea (the highest stands) and Ima Cavea (lowest stands) are acceded. From Ima Cavea, the Orchestra, Proscaenium, Scenae frons and Basilica are acceded.
I recommend a guided visit. We followed the visit and were very satisfied with the explanations of the guide about the history of both the theater and the museum.

1 more image

The Roman Theater was built at the end of the 1st century BC. After the decline of the Empire, Byzantines constructed over it their shops and the theater remained covered for centuries. The recovery of the Theater began in the decade of 1990. Now, the Theater has been completely excavated and a Museum has been built that connects the Theater with the Palace Pascual de Riquelme. Thus, the monument has been integrated in the urban area. The museum also embraces the old church of Santa María la Vieja which was superimposed on the theater.

The Little Sea is considered as the largest salt water lagoon in Europe, located at the south-east of the Murcian Community. The saline is separated from the mediterranean by a sand bank with a lenght of 24 km of La Manga(The Strip). The area is known to its mineral rich water and said to have therapeutic effects, thus, spa tourism industry boomed.

3 more images

At the west end of the promenade flanking the harbor is a military Monument of the Heroes of Cavite, dedicated to the dead soldiers who died during the Spanish-American war in 1898. A tribute to those who all fought in the battles of Cavite and santiago de Cuba. The main enclave in the square that we could admire how the soldiers were disembarking.