5 Things to See at Castillo San Felipe de BarajasIs It Worth Going Inside?

The underground tunnels are stunning, and they’re what people remember most: narrow, dark passageways running through the inside of the hill. The first surprise is the temperature. Outside, Cartagena sits at 30 degrees, and suddenly you step into these cool tunnels and feel like you’ve been transported somewhere else. The sound changes too, and if you walk slowly you can even hear your own breathing.

One thing to know: only part of the tunnel network is open to the public, so don’t expect to walk all of it. What you can see is enough to understand why everyone comes out talking about them.

And if someone tells you one of them leads all the way to the Cathedral, just smile: it’s a much-repeated legend, but it isn’t true.

From the entrance below, the castle rises on the hill of San Lázaro, some 40 metres above the city, and the only way up is on foot, along its stone ramps. As you climb, the ramparts close in around you and the castle grows bigger and bigger: thick, sloping walls that seem to grow out of the hill itself. Take your time, enjoy the sea breeze and look back every now and then — the city slowly settles at your feet.

First, what’s a sentry box? It’s a small round turret jutting out from the corner of a wall, and it was the post of the sentinels, the soldiers who guarded the castle day and night. From there they kept watch over the sea, the bay and the roads leading into the city, sheltered from the sun, the rain and gunfire, peering through narrow slits without being seen. The ones at San Felipe are Renaissance in style, with dome-shaped roofs, and inside there’s barely room for one person. Lean out and look at the city the way they saw it: it’s no coincidence that the sentry boxes have become one of Cartagena’s symbols, and that almost everyone takes their souvenir photo here.

Around them are the batteries, the platforms where the cannons were placed. The castle has seven, and each has its own name: San Lázaro, Santa Bárbara, La Redención, San Carlos, Los Doce Apóstoles, La Cruz and el Hornabeque. Look out for them as you climb; Los Doce Apóstoles had the most firepower in the whole castle.

When you reach the very top, you understand why the climb was worth it. On one side lies the walled city with its tiled roofs; on the other, the towers of Bocagrande facing the sea, the hill of La Popa and a good stretch of the bay. With the wind in your face and the whole city in front of you, it’s one of the best viewpoints in Cartagena, especially late in the afternoon, when the light turns golden.

The stones are impressive, but they don’t tell you on their own what happened here. That story comes from a LightUp gem — that’s what we call our audio guides: the one for Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, a superb narration by Descubre Cartagena. You can tell they know their subject: the story hooks you from start to finish, and the ambient sounds drop you right into every moment. You listen on your phone, at your own pace, as you explore the castle.

Yes, absolutely. From outside you only see an imposing wall; the coolness of the tunnels, the photo in the sentry box and the view from the top can only be experienced inside. Allow at least an hour and a half to explore it without rushing.

When you leave, walk a few steps to the Zapatos Viejos (Old Shoes) monument: a pair of giant boots inspired by the poem «A mi ciudad nativa» (“To My Native City”) by Luis Carlos López, Cartagena’s poet, who wrote that the city stirs in him «ese cariño que uno le tiene a sus zapatos viejos» (“the fondness one has for one’s old shoes”). People climb inside the boots for a photo, and it’s one of the quirkiest you can take home from Cartagena.

Photos: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.