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CITY TRIPS

Murcia

Cartegena

The city of Murcia was founded in 831 by Abd-Al-Rahman II on a privileged location, in the centre of the Valley of the River Segura. The city wall offers a good idea of the importance achieved by the city under Arab rule, and the remains of part of the wall are still visible in different places around the city; the wall originally measured 15 metres in height and had 95 towers. The importance of the city has also been evidenced by the numerous archaeological findings, such as the remains of a palace unearthed at the Las Claras Convent. 

The Christian city has also left a profound mark on Murcia's urban physiognomy; two of its main arteries, La Platería and La Trapería, still reveal the intense guild activity that developed in the metropolis.

However it was from the 16th century, and particularly the 18th century, onwards that Murcia achieved an urban splendour that lead to its expansion beyond the city walls. It was during that period that the numerous churches - mainly baroque in style - that mark the entire urban landscape were built. These churches include La Merced, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Las Claras, Santo Domingo, Santa Eulalia and San Juan de Dios, which combine their artistic and architectural designs with an important pictorial and sculptural heritage, containing numerous important works, including most notably those produced by Francisco Salzillo.

Cartagena is a city with more than 2,500 years of history. Each corner, street and square of the city offers travellers monumental examples of its splendorous historical past, of the civilizations that put in at its port. 

The Cartagena inititiative, "Port of Cultures", opens up a wide range of possibilities which enable the visitor to enjoy the city's heritage and cultural riches: to find out about its origins by visiting the Punic Walls, evidence of the founding of the city by the Carthaginian Asdrubal in the year 227 B.C., where a Visitor Activity Centre will explain all about that fundamental part of its history and the local archaeology.

Cartagena "Port of Cultures" has developed these riches into a unifying theme in order to make it more accesssible to visitors. Just by strolling around we soon discover that the city also possesses a military history which takes us right back to mediaeval times when the Castle of the Conception was built. It is here where a Visitor Activity Centre offers information about the city and its history in a place which has been chosen for its privileged setting.

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