Camellón de los Mártires

This guide to Camellón de los Mártires in Cartagena starts at a marble bust of Manuel del Castillo, on ground that spent decades as Cartagena's public slaughterhouse rather than a memorial. You'll hear how Spanish general Pablo Morillo had Castillo and eight other independence leaders executed here in 1816, how the meat trade kept running on the same spot for years afterward, and how the square was renamed twice before the city shipped in marble for its statues. Listen for the Latin line Cartagena's women funded to guard one of them.