City, Territory and Architecture (Jan 2023)
Historical-architectural analysis of Cartagena de Indias heritage
Abstract
Abstract In the last four decades, the historical heritage of Cartagena de Indias has been at the center of national and international attention due to its classification as a World Heritage Site according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Many historians and architects in the past have narrated the heroic deeds of the city of Cartagena, its role in the independence of Colombia, as well as the history of its construction. Its history, extension and majesty currently attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Tourism representing the second source of income in the region after industry. However, today the heritage continues to suffer from several challenges that deserve to be faced by the community in general, the scientific community and institutions. Its particular state of conservation and some state of deterioration has generated a call for attention by UNESCO to categorize it as heritage at risk due to the effects of climate change (UNESCO 2016), which represented a crucial moment for the authors offering several points of reflection that have given life to this work. Part of the problems of deterioration and decay of the fortifications is due to a deep lack of knowledge on the part of civil society and the authorities about the construction history and the stratification of interventions on the heritage. For this reason, the objective of this paper is to analyze the history of the interventions and modifications of the fortifications, including the submarine defense system of Cartagena de Indias, as well as to evaluate the state of the city at the end of the Spanish viceroyalty. In this work, history, architecture and engineering come together, proposing a journey into the past, a broad vision of heritage and its current problems. In the conclusions, the authors matured a series of recommendations as a result of the present investigation and their personal experience in heritage management. It is considered essential to apply these measures in the short-medium term for the heritage protection and its conservation for future generations.
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