Plaza BolívarThe heart of Cartagena's Walled City and arguably its finest plaza. During the day it's a shaded, peaceful square anchored by an equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar, dotted with pigeons and a small fountain, pleasant enough, but save it for the evening when it truly comes alive. Afro-Colombian musicians and dancers fill the square with color and energy, making it one of the most culturally rich free experiences in the city.
On the south end sits the Portal de las Reinas, a covered arcade in Republican style, symmetrical, column-lined, and distinctly un-colonial, whose walls are tiled with the faces of every Miss Colombia in competition history. Flanking the plaza are the Zenú Gold Museum and the Palace of the Inquisition. That second one deserves a closer look. The entrance to the Palace is one of the only Baroque-style facades in the city and genuinely beautiful, which makes the building's history all the more striking. On the left side of the entrance, look for a small window set into the wall. That is where citizens would approach to anonymously denounce their neighbors to the Inquisition for practicing witchcraft. Many of those accusations were directed at women who prepared traditional cacao drinks: the buen querere, the posima, love potions made from native Colombian cacao that were considered suspicious enough to report. That same tradition is alive today in Magno's tasting experience, where our house cacao cocktail draws directly from those same recipes. History has a way of showing up in unexpected places.
