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Tourism - World Heritage Sites
Go to >> Cartagena | Santa Cruz de Mompox | Los Katíos Natural Park | San Agustín Archaeological Park | Tierradentro Archaeological Park
Cartagena de Indias
Situated on one of the most beautiful bays in Latin America.
Since its foundation, the heroic city was a major port in the vast Spanish colonial empire. Pirates and privateers, as well as England and France, who were competing with Spain for world dominance, were seeking to conquer Cartagena.
In response to this threat, the Spanish built the most imposing and extensive fortifications in the New World. Cartagena's churches, cloisters, houses, civic buildings, streets and squares are a magnificent illustration of the architectural style of the colonial period.
UNESCO declared Cartagena a world heritage site in November 1984.
Local average temperature 29°C
Santa Cruz de Mompox
Included among UNESCO World Heritage Sites in December 1995, the town of Santa Cruz de Mompox is on a fertile plain surrounded by swamps on the shore of the River Magdalena.
Founded on one of the few natural elevations in the region, and on the ancient settlement of the Malibú Indians, Santa Cruz de Mompox developed into an important stopping-off point between Cartagena and the interior of the country for goods and travellers.
Its privileged geographical position and active trade generated architecture of exceptional beauty and quality. This has been fully preserved thanks, paradoxically, to the town's isolation in the 19th, and most of the 20th century, due to gradual changes in the main course of the river and underdevelopment in the wake of the Independence war from Spain and subsequent 19th century civil wars in Colombia.
Local average temperature 28°C
Los Katíos Natural Park
The Darién region is considered one of the most inhospitable areas in the world.
The Atrato river basin has an annual rainfall of over 10,000 mm, making it one of the wettest regions in the world.
This is the location of the Los Katíos National Park, a protected area because of its rich biodiversity and a World Heritage Site since December 1994.
Local average temperature 27°C
San Agustín Archaeological Park
Declared a World Heritage site in December 1995, San Agustín is one of the main archaeological sites in Colombia. It is in the south of the Province of Huila.
A region of imposing mountains, ravines and canyons, San Agustín was inhabited in the past by prehistoric cultures that left a legacy of over 400 monumental statues, stone sculptures, monolithic sarcophagi, tombs and petroglyphs, spread over an area of approximately 500 km².
Local average temperature 18°C
Tierradentro Archaeological Park
A World Heritage Site since December 1995, Tierradentro is located in the midst of high mountains and deep canyons crossed by rivers and streams on the eastern foothills of the Central Cordillera.
One of the most extraordinary pre-Colombian cultures flourished there, leaving impressive funeral monuments - hypogea - and a remarkable collection of sculptures, which give a good insight into their beliefs and funeral rites.
Local average temperature 18°C
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