San Felipe de Barajas Castle

The beautiful city of Cartagena in Colombia was invaded many times, and around 1656 the Spanish Crown decided to build this incredible fortress, with the help of the Dutch engineer Richard Carr. I wasn’t expecting this place to be so well kept – and it is very accessible from the town centre.

The Castle dominates an entire section of Cartagena’s cityscape. It should definitely be the first fortress you visit.  The maintenance of this place is self-sustaining, the resources are totally contributed by the visitors.

 

 

A complex system of tunnels connected strategic points in the castle to allow provisions to be distributed and to facilitate evacuation. The tunnels were constructed so that any noise reverberated all the way along them, making it possible to hear the slightest sound of an approaching enemy, and also making internal communication easy.

 

You must walk through the tunnels, some of  them are quite scary and dark. I really enjoyed the excitement.