We took a trip to the historic city of Cartagena which was founded around 227 BC.  Our friend Felipe came along to be our tour guide and took us to some of the sites.

The city is known for some unique and well-preserved Roman ruins. We came to the Roman theater which was the main symbol of growth and wealth during the Roman times.

There some interesting aspects to the theater including the design for the flow of people which is still being copied and incorporated in large arenas around the world.

We walked through the theater looking at the ruins.

After looking at the Roman Theater we went to another Roman site in Cartagena called Barrio del foro .

Excavations that took place in 2008 on the southern slope of Cerro del Molinete discovered  a complete Roman block.

It has the remains of two buildings, one is a Roman bath complex from the 1st century AD.

We walked through the roman bath ruins with Felipe and he explained the way the bath house used wood fire to heat the baths and used convection heat to help move the water throughout the baths.

The second Roman ruin uncovered in the barrio del foro was an Atrium building, where religious banquets were celebrated in the 1st century AD.

We walked through the Atrium and looked at the ruins. There was even some remains of the original floor which was a herringbone style.

There were even some clay wine containers which was used to ship wine on sail ships.

We then went to see another Roman site which was under development. Felipe was able to get us inside to see the site before it was completed.

There are many beautiful restored and conserved Roman ruins in Cartagena. We enjoyed walking through the ruins and imaging what life was like during the Roman times.

“adios y que tenga un grand dia”