Museum of Cartagena de Indias

Visited on a Wednesday. I will say that online it says it opens at 9am and I went right at 9 and was told that it doesn’t open until 9:30am so just be watchful of that if you’re on a schedule or have an itinerary. Other than that, it was a lovely visit. Easy to buy tickets at the counter and the historical content was very interesting.

I’m not sure this is the best museum to visit for English speaking foreigners. All the displays are in the Spanish language and there isn’t any pamphlets with translations either. However, this isn’t going to change because, according to my tour guide, it is in the constitution that museum displays be in the national language - that being Spanish. Therefore, you probably won’t find any museums with English translations, unless there are exceptions. Ofcourse, you can use the Google translate app or chatgpt however, even with the translation, I didn’t feel you were given too much information? It wasn’t extremely detailed - there weren’t many personal stories etc. However, it is a gorgeous building and it is obviously interesting to be in the building where the inquisitions happened.

The story of Cartagena is incredibly rich. The venue is beautiful, but the storytelling could use some more visual aids!

This really is more a museum dedicated to the "Spanish Inquisition". There are other historical facts present, but the chambers where witches were denounced and questioned and executed are the main attraction and really take away from anything one sees. Its interesting to see the atrocities for what they really were, which was sadly religious persecution and quite disturbing. I don't think this is a good place to bring children but the twice I have been I have been happy that this accurate piece of history has been maintained so we can hopefully avoid such future acts.

Great place to visit and learn more about Cartagena's history.

Nice to see the history of Colombia. Unfortunately an oppressed history of the different people's. It's wonderful how they detailed historical events for others to learn what not do and to do. The Europeans, Africans, and Spanish had a huge impact. Nice to see artifacts throughout history. Colombia has come along way!

The Museo de Cartagena de Indias offers a fascinating glimpse into the city’s colonial history, with well-preserved architecture and engaging exhibits. While we appreciated the cultural richness, the sections on the Inquisition were a stark reminder of its cruelty and human suffering.

Interesting historical building housing the story, and in fact the location, of the Inquisition in Cartegena as well as of the original indigenous inhabitants. Exhibits are spread over two floors and it was easy to while away a couple of hours there. One improvement might be to add some explanations in English as most everything is only in Spanish so if you don't speak Spanish the historical explanations won't be helpful. Guides may be available, but I didn't see any when I visited. Entry was 25k COP with a 4k discount for seniors.