Cartagena, Spain

     
After a three days of very enjoyable sailing/motoring along the Spanish Mediterranean coast, Deb and I have stopped in Cartagena for a day or two. 

We plan to take it easy and spend some time looking around.  It sounds like there should be plenty to keep us busy.  2256 years of history in one place!

Developed by Hasdrubal about 243 BC it became the center of Carthaginian influence in Europe, helped by slaves working the gold and silver mines or the region.  Hasdrubal's brother, Hannibal, used it as a base for his expedition across the Alps and it became the primary target of Scipio the elder . 
The Romans duly destroyed Carthaginian influence, St. James the Great is said to have landed here in AD 36 bringing Christianity to Spain from Palestine.  It subsequently passed into the hands of the Barbarians and then the Moors.  Philip II fortified the surrounding hills in the 16th century, Drake stole its guns in 1585 and took them to Jamaica, Charles III established the arsenal and naval base in the 18th century and the Republicans held out for months against Madrid during the Civil War in 1938.