Cartagena
Carthaginian Foundation Of About 227 BC, Taken By Rome In 209 BC, Spain'S Principal Mediterranean Naval Base, With A Roman Theatre For 6,000 Discovered In 1988 And Opened In 2008 · Cartagena, Murcia
A naval city with one of the best natural harbours in the Mediterranean, which is why everyone has wanted it: Carthaginians founded it as Qart Hadasht, Rome took it in 209 BC and mined silver out of the hills behind, and it has been Spain's principal Mediterranean naval base ever since. The remarkable thing happened in 1988, when the demolition of an old market uncovered a Roman theatre for six thousand people that nobody knew existed, buried under the centre of town for centuries; it opened to the public in 2008 with a museum reached by escalators under the streets. Around it the city has an unusual concentration of modernista architecture from the mining boom, a hill of military castles, and a Punic wall in a basement. It is also still a working naval port, which gives the waterfront submarines and grey hulls rather than yachts, and makes it the least resort-like city on this entire stretch of Spanish coast.
Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Cartagena, Murcia, 30201, Spain
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The structure: the ROMAN THEATRE AND ITS MUSEUM are one ticketed visit with daytime hours, a SHORTER SUNDAY and a MONDAY CLOSURE, and the other archaeological sites keep similar hours on the combined card with a long midday break in summer. The PANORAMIC LIFT and the castle run their own timetable and close in high wind. SEMANA SANTA processions close the centre. Confirm the Monday closures before building a day.