Monumento Torre del Reloj
Baroque stone gate with Tuscan columns crowning the walled city's only historic entrance, topped by a working clock tower.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Torre del Reloj in Cartagena starts in 1697, in the smoke after a French raiding fleet under the Baron de Pointis tore through the harbor gate once called Boca del Puente, the Mouth of the Bridge. For nearly a century that narrow crossing had been the only way into the walled city, its drawbridge yanked up the moment enemy sails appeared. It follows engineer Juan de Herrera y Sotomayor, founder of Cartagena's own school of fortification, as he designs a baroque stone answer built in the stern style of the city's great convents. Look up at the arch's Tuscan columns as you pass through.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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