Discovering Cartagena
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Discovering Cartagena
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More Articles By Phillip Bruce www.raxomnium.com Try Some Desert Island Cruising
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Decorative Details One of the great pleasures of walking around Cartagena is spotting the decorative details and flourishes that architects of the past added to their buildings. There are door knockers, letterboxes, sconces, swirls, flourishes, faces, lions, patterns and friezes. It’s always a good idea to look upwards and away from the horrible modern street level shop fronts and see the evidence of a more elegant age. The enthusiasm for decorative elements was at its height at the end of the 19th century and at the start of the 20th century when Cartagena’s rich families were enjoying the fruits of a mining and industrial boom. They invested heavily in ornate buildings that displayed their wealth. As much of the city had been destroyed by bombardment during a rebellion in the 1870s there was plenty of scope for new building. Some horrific buildings were erected to disgrace the centre of the city in the 1960s and 1970s and the architects of these, no doubt, hang their head in shame. Look at the Barclays Bank building and the block next to the stately former Gran Hotel in Puerta de Murcia, the building opposite the beautifully restored town hall, some of the horrors in Calle Carmen and despair. It could be a hundred years before these monstrosities are pulled down. But visitors can still enjoy the exuberant style of the architects who knew how to have fun back in a more elegant age. End
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