Cartagena City

Cartagena

Cartagena is a city of 184,686 inhabitants located in the Spanish autonomous community of Murcia. The climate of the area is defined as subtropical Mediterranean arid or sub-arid. The temperatures are made ​​more pleasant by its maritime position, although the rainfall rarely exceeds 300 mm annual average. This places the city among the driest in Europe.

The wind is a factor-characterizing climate: Cartagena, protected from the northwest by the Betic mountain chain, is instead exposed to the winds that blow steadily from the southeast for most of the year.

It has a highly developed chemical industry (refinery and extraction of minerals). It is also a very important port for military installations and shipyards. A major source of revenue is made up of tourism that is concentrated on the coasts of neighboring Mar Menor.

Founded by Carthaginian general Hasdrubal in the year 227 BC and named Qarto Hadash (new city), and later Cartago Nova (new Carthage.) At one time, it was the wealthiest city in the ancient world. But Cartagena became famous during the 2nd Punic which lasted from 218 to 201 B.C.

This is the city where Hannibal landed with his elephants to defeat the Romans. With the Roman conquest in Cartago Nova, it was renamed and became one of the most important cities of Hispania. Later, during the Emperor Diocletian reign, it became the capital of the Roman province.

With the fall of the Roman Empire began the decline of the city, having been part of the Byzantine Empire, Cartagena was conquered by the Visigoths, led by King Sisebuto, who destroyed it. Then it underwent the Arab rule until the conquest took place in 1245.

It was not until the eighteenth century and during the reign of Charles III when the city recovered its former glory, with the construction of numerous works on military buildings as well as the city walls and castles that surround it. During the Spanish Civil War, it was the last city to fall into the hands of nationalists. Currently the city belongs to the autonomous community of Murcia and is the seat of the Regional Assembly.

Among the most important monuments in Cartagena are: the Punic Wall, the last remnant of the defensive walls built by the Carthaginians, the Roman Theatre, the Church of Santa Maria, traditionally considered the first in Spain, although they currently remain only the ruins of the Great Wall Sea built by King Charles III of Spain; and the Modernist Town Hall, completed in 1907. You can also visit the Municipal Archaeological Museum, the Naval Museum and the Museum of Maritime Archaeology.