It smells of History

 



Doubling back we are going along the front.  Well, the front of some very high walls - which keep us away from the Puerto de Cartagena.




On the corner is the Museo Naval de Cartagena.  https://www.fundacionmuseonaval.com/museonavalcartagena.html  It closes Sundays and Mondays but is open from 9am till 2pm most days.  People seem to like the place.  It gets 4.6 stars from almost 3750 reviews. A week ago Villa wrote



Well, let's see… I absolutely loved the Naval Museum of Cartagena. From the moment you walk in, it smells of history (and not the boring kind), but the good kind, full of ships, sailors, and things that make you say "wow." The building itself is imposing, like something out of a movie, and inside everything is very well maintained, clean, and with those display cases that make you want to keep your hands off them… but you do a little.



The best thing, without a doubt, is the Peral submarine, which is gigantic and looks like it came from the future, even though it was made ages ago. You stand there looking at it and think: "How did they fit people in there?" There are also model ships, uniforms, antique compasses, and a ton of objects that make you feel like you're in the middle of a maritime adventure.


The signs explain everything quite well (although I got a little lost, but that's my fault 😅) and the staff is very friendly.


In short: if you go to Cartagena and don't visit the Naval Museum, you're missing out on a gem. It's interesting, beautiful, and on top of that, it's free, which is practically a miracle. I left there feeling almost like a ship's captain... although then I got in the car and it was hard to park, but oh well, that's another story.



Let us go on.  The Puerta de Arsenal Militar is worth a brief pause to wonder at it.   Antonio’s review is wistfully uninformative.  ‘Everything has changed a lot after more than thirty years without going to Cartagena.’  Jose slipped some history in.  ‘Highly recommended. This site was a moment of historic significance. When the uprising broke out, the people defending the Republic entered the guardhouse, arrested 290 high-ranking naval officers, and took them to the ship España, which was in port. What happened next changed the outcome.’



So we walk on and gaze at the water.





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