Museo Historico de Cartagena de Indias
Museo Historico de Cartagena de Indias
Museo Historico de Cartagena de Indias
3.5
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
About
This site is now a museum focusing on Cartagena's role in the Spanish Inquisition.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
3.5
1,816 reviews
Excellent
477
Very good
539
Average
459
Poor
215
Terrible
126
Eduardo M
1 contribution
Jan 2020 • Friends
This museum used to be very interesting. It desplayed the evidence of a sad but real chapter of Cartagena's history. I understood the all powerful Catholic Church used its influence to modify the exhibition and transform the museum into a Turist Trap.
Currently, the museum makes a shame of its own. You will see walls full of Wikipedia copy paste information.
Few of the text is in English and the definition of the images is really bad. They even manage to make mistakes in the displayed text.
Rooms are not refrigerated and very humid.
Dont waste your time and money on this place. And please, do not support the owners who benefit from public founds to charge admissions privately.
Take your 22k pesos and buy yourself a couple of beers. Enjoy your time in Cartagena de Indias!
Currently, the museum makes a shame of its own. You will see walls full of Wikipedia copy paste information.
Few of the text is in English and the definition of the images is really bad. They even manage to make mistakes in the displayed text.
Rooms are not refrigerated and very humid.
Dont waste your time and money on this place. And please, do not support the owners who benefit from public founds to charge admissions privately.
Take your 22k pesos and buy yourself a couple of beers. Enjoy your time in Cartagena de Indias!
Written January 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
afinetraveler
Washington DC, DC998 contributions
Feb 2020 • Couples
There are two museums in one building, with one concerning the inquisition and the other on the history of Cartagena. Both are interesting subjects, but these museums are outdated and in dire need of updating. There’s plenty to read (mostly in Spanish), but nothing to watch (video), touch (physical displays), listen to (audio), or truly enjoy. Unfortunately there’s little to see or do in Cartagena (other than shop, eat or visit a church), so these museums are still worthy of a visit.
Written February 10, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bozeman-Dublin
Trim, Ireland11,334 contributions
Jul 2022 • Solo
Very little in this museum has any English explanations and quite a few rooms upstairs were closed off.
To be fair, when paying in, the Lady at the ticket office told me the displayboards were in Spanish but I still expected a bit more of interest.
The courtyard has a bit of character, the building itself is beautiful and there are a few interesting grisly instruments of torture associated with the Inquisition, but overall very disappointing.
I was expecting this to be a really Interesting museum in fact or was well below average. Save your money and time for something better in my opinion.
To be fair, when paying in, the Lady at the ticket office told me the displayboards were in Spanish but I still expected a bit more of interest.
The courtyard has a bit of character, the building itself is beautiful and there are a few interesting grisly instruments of torture associated with the Inquisition, but overall very disappointing.
I was expecting this to be a really Interesting museum in fact or was well below average. Save your money and time for something better in my opinion.
Written July 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rmartinmitch
Boston, MA637 contributions
Dec 2022
We had a chance to visit the Museo Historico during our recent visit to Cartagena. The visit was part of an excursion offered by the cruise we were taken through the Panama Canal.
The musuem reminds us of some of the more terrifying aspects of the inquistion, which was taking place in South America as well as Europe.
We were entertained by a dance troop when we first visited the museum.
Intersting.
The musuem reminds us of some of the more terrifying aspects of the inquistion, which was taking place in South America as well as Europe.
We were entertained by a dance troop when we first visited the museum.
Intersting.
Written January 15, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark R
Billerica, MA35 contributions
Jan 2020
Not that large. Not a lot of material other than tons of text plastered on tthe walls. Unfortunately for me, an "ugly american" english-only tourist, less than half is translated into english. I feel guilty complaning, but this does limit this museaums enjoyment in this facinating international city. I feel I would have been better just reading wikipedia and save myself the visit. Sorry folks.
Written February 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TAMAN1951
Liberty Lake, WA8,650 contributions
Sep 2022 • Couples
Very sad reflection on Spanish Inquisition in Cartagena. Catholics were brutal. Classic guilty till proven innocent.
Only a few instruments of torture on display and one of the worst is the water torture room.
Well worth the time to visit.
Only a few instruments of torture on display and one of the worst is the water torture room.
Well worth the time to visit.
Written September 14, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Monica S
Miami80 contributions
This Palace of the Inquisition is located in the lovely Plaza Bolivar in the Old Walled City of Cartagena. It gives the visitor a frightening glimpse into the brutality of the Inquisitions, since you are able to see first-hand the torture devices that were used. If you like history, you'll love this. Especially interesting is a list of questions used to determine whether or not one was a witch. At the time we visited the admission price was about $5USD, well worth it! It's also in a great spot, close to the Gold Museum (Museo de Oro), plenty of shops, and within walking distance of the Iglesia de San Pedro Claver. There are plenty of vendors outside in the plaza selling bottled water, hand-held fans, candy, and if you're lucky - "raspaos" - similar to snow cones in local flavors topped with condensed milk. If you have small children, be prepared to carry them up the stairs in the Inquisition Palace as well as the stroller (no elevators).
Written July 29, 2007
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Pat120745
Salford, UK5 contributions
This is a very poor museum with a few torture devices, very little else and not worth visiting. We were also (as were other reviewrs) pestered by an "unofficial guide" who offered to explain everything in English and at the end of a 15 minute tour demanded payment of 30,000 COP....nearly £10.....more than it cost to get in to the museum! The museum is basically a whole series of posters with little else. Do not get ripped off....go to the free gold museum on the other side of the square which is excellent.
Written November 18, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
kelledstyle
Montreal, Canada763 contributions
Mar 2019 • Friends
We plan to visit the Gold Museum (Museo del Oro Zenu) but it was closed for renovations so we decided to walk around and we ended up at the Cartagena History Museum (Museo Historico de Cartagena). We highly recommend opting for an audio guide since there are just a few annotations in English. Inside this museum, there is also the Palace of Inquisition showcasing historical artifacts. For more pictures, feel free to visit my Instagram (IG: kelledstyle).
Written April 13, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeff B
Greater Sydney, Australia14 contributions
Dec 2019
If you are expecting gold and treasure, dont bother coming here. Go to the gold museum in Bogota . This fascinating little museum is not for the failt hearted but you may learn more about what the Spanish actually did in South America than you ever will by reading a book. Ondisplay with notes in Spanish and English is the rich history of how the Spanish priests and judiciary subjugated and imposed their "Christian" views onto the locals, mostly slaves from African and ithe local indigenous cultures but really anyone who was not seen as being devout. This involved torture as a means to force ordinary people to renounce their own religions I(or lack of) and to accept Christianity. Trials were a joke because the unfortunate defendant was almost always found guilty no matter what defensive arguments they put up. Crimes included such things as practicing reading forbidden books, witchcraft, enchantment, solicitation (prostitution), bigamy, etc. More than 900 locals were killed over a period of 200 years in the name of Christianity by burning at the stake, torture (many gruesome torture devices are on display), hanging, etc. So called "witches" were typically loaded with weights and thrown into a well. There is also a gallows and a guillotine at the museum. In a nearby bookshop you can buy a little dual language (English/Spanish) book of one writer's description of what happened in Cartagena during this awful time.
Written July 11, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
cuanto cobran la entrada a niños de 6 años y la de adulto ?
visitaremos cartagena a principios de julio
Written June 20, 2018
Si los niños tienen carnet de estudiante les recomiendo llevarlo y preguntar en este y otros museos si hay descuento para ellos (o incluso si entran gratis)
Written June 21, 2018
hola somos un grupo de amigas, que viajamos en abril querÃamos saber el tour de donde se toma o recomendación de algún tour a las islas del rosario, que incluye y si se puede visitar a la misma vez el oceanario, valor de cada una o pack completo?, muchas gracias
Written February 4, 2018
Hola como estan, si bien viajamos en Enero y hay un clima ideal. Entiendo que Septiembre el clima es un poco mas fresco, pero aprovechable entre las 1100 y las 1500 como para sumergirse en aguas caribeñas. Independientemente de ello, la noche aconsejo algún abrigo liviano y pasear por la histórica Cartagena. MÃnimo 3 noches para poder admirarla.
Written July 24, 2017
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