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Cartagena is one of the oldest, most fascinating and undiscovered cities in the world. Which is surprising considering its history, dating back more than 3, 000 years, Cartagena was a busy port before most places where even discovered and its long history has always featured the sea. Due to its unique strategic position on the Mediterranean coast, (North Africa is only about 120 miles away) you will see high on the hilltops, several forts and castles.
Pictured right is the Peral Submarine, built in Cadiz in 1884, the very first. The Cartagena born designer saw it launched in 1888. |
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The visitor will find here, a wealth of history and beautiful architecture and as you explore the port area you will find a mixture of old and new.
The large naval base still occupies a large area and throughout the city, the importance of the port will become evident with numerous buildings belonging to the navy, as well as a good naval museum.
A must see are the the Naval Headquarters, Artillery Headquarters, Dockyard Gate and the Midshipman School.
Over recent years many of the important buildings in the city have been restored. Indeed, to this day the work continues.
There are numerous churches, palaces and government buildings. You will also find several good museums worthy of a visit. |
There are plenty of parks and squares to rest in, surrounded by good restaurants and bars and you will almost certainly find life here very slow and easy going.
Shopping in Cartagena is an easy, pleasant and safe experience as the commercial area is very compact and reasonably flat. Most of the shops can be found between the underground car park at the waterfront. You will find a lot of the major European retailers there, together with many traditional Spanish shops, such as Berushka, Zara and, Mango but take time to visit the interesting little local shops, that add interest to the streets of Cartagena. Some of these smaller shops close during the afternoon, from about 1.30pm, but the big brand shops are open all day.
The late afternoon and evening, from about 6pm to about 9pm, is a great time to go shopping and you will find all the shops open and the local people and families out for a stroll.
In the centre of town you will find Spain's most prestigious of department stores, El Corte Ingles. El Corte Ingles is a chain of stores throughout Spain. This particular store was opened in 2005 and has a large supermarket, cafe, waiter service restaurant (English spoken reasonably well) plus all you would expect of a Spanish version of John Lewis.
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We will provide you with full details on how to get to Cartagena and more things to see and do there. These can be found in our welcome book at each of the properties.
In the mean time, to find out more on this beautiful city please follow the links below. |
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