Free Walking Tour Santa Marta: Cathedral to Gold Museum

Your Santa Marta Walking Tour from Cathedral to Customs House

1. 1

   Catedral Basílica de Santa Marta

   

   Stand back from the Catedral Basílica de Santa Marta before you go anywhere near the door. On the left of the facade rises a rectangular tower with the belfry at its top, and at the far end of the church a dome closes the view; together they give the building its Renaissance look. Then find the clock tower: the cupola crowning it is in a Byzantine style that you will not find anywhere else in Colombia.

   The church you see goes back to the 1760s. Bishop Nicolás Gil Martínez Malo and governor Andrés Pérez pushed the project, and they handed the plans to Juan Cayetano Chacón, a draughtsman of the royal armies. The first stone was laid on 8 December 1766. The cathedral counts as the first church built under an ecclesiastical jurisdiction in South America, which is why locals speak of it with some pride.

   Two men give this place its weight. When Simón Bolívar died in 1830, his body was laid in a vault here and stayed for twelve years, until 1842, when it was taken to Venezuela. The other is the city's founder, Rodrigo de Bastidas, whose remains were brought from the Dominican Republic in 1953 and rest here today. Keep his name in mind; the route meets him again on the waterfront.

   Is it worth going in? Yes, for a quarter of an hour if you like church architecture or want to stand near the founder. Inside, thick columns carry the structure, the floor plan splits into three naves with the central one wider than the side aisles, and the transept is as wide as the central nave. Entry is free and donations are welcome; the doors are not open all day, so time your start around them.

   From here it is 330 m, about 4 minutes, to Parque de los Novios, the old town's liveliest square.

   Hours

   Mon–Sat 11:30–13:00, 16:30–18:00, Sun 06:30–13:00, 16:30–18:00

   Price

   Free (donations welcome)

   Location

   Catedral Basílica de Santa Marta on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Parque de los Novios

   

   Parque de los Novios is where Santa Marta comes to eat and meet. It is one of the city's dining and tourist hubs, framed by buildings of heritage value, and since a 2008 renovation turned Carreras 2 and 3 into pedestrian streets, it has been one of the main engines bringing the historic centre back to life, culturally and commercially.

   The ground under your feet was once a flood-prone patch of land. Over time it became a market, mainly for meat, and kept that role until it was inaugurated as the Plaza de San Francisco. People went on calling it the placita Vieja del Mercado, the little old market square, and it became part of the colonial street grid.

   In the 1930s it was renamed Plaza Santander after Francisco de Paula Santander, the soldier and statesman whose statue stands in the centre. The link to the city runs deeper than a name: in 1619 Santa Marta was governed by Francisco Martínez de Ribamontán Santander, an ancestor of the independence hero. Look also for the bust of Manuel Murillo Toro, twice president of the United States of Colombia in the second half of the nineteenth century.

   Take in the edges too. The Palacio de Justicia and the Antigua Escuela Cuarta both went up during the boom years of the early twentieth century. In the middle stands a small neoclassical temple, and at the two corners of the eastern side you will see round terraces edged with balustrades.

   Now head for the water: 840 m, about 11 minutes, to the Bahía de Santa Marta.

   Hours

   Open 24/7 (public square, always accessible)

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Parque de los Novios on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Bahía de Santa Marta

   

   Here the old town opens onto the Caribbean. The Bahía de Santa Marta lies in the north of the Magdalena department, and its waters wash right up against the city. This bay is the reason Santa Marta exists as it does: it made the city Colombia's second port on the Caribbean.

   Look beyond the water and the town. Close to the bay rises the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the highest intertropical mountain range in the world standing directly on the sea. It is the same mountain world whose ancient peoples you will meet again in gold at the end of the walk.

   People here call it the most beautiful bay in America. Whether you agree is up to you, but give it a few quiet minutes; there is nothing to visit inside, the view is the point.

   Next comes the longest single leg of the route: 880 m, about 12 minutes, along the water to the Camellon Rodrigo de Bastidas (Malecon).

   Hours

   Open 24/7 (public bay / waterfront, always accessible)

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Bahía de Santa Marta on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Camellon Rodrigo de Bastidas (Malecon)

   Bastidas, take two. You stood near his remains in the cathedral; now you walk on the promenade that carries his full name. The Camellon Rodrigo de Bastidas is the shaped, renovated version of the bay you just saw in the raw: a seaside walk with open pedestrian paths running along the water.

   Look for the statue of the founder, Rodrigo de Bastidas, which faces out over the Caribbean. It is a fitting pose for the man who started a city whose whole layout, as the next stop shows, was turned toward this sea.

   There is no entrance and no ticket; the Camellon is street, open at all hours. You have just finished the longest leg, and only the two shortest stand between you and the end, so this is where the walk can exhale. Slow down here, because after it the route turns back into the historic quarter and the pace changes on its own.

   Plaza de Bolívar is only 120 m away, about 2 minutes: its western side opens straight onto the Camellon.

   Hours

   Open 24/7 (public promenade / malecón, always accessible)

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Camellon Rodrigo de Bastidas (Malecon) on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Plaza de Bolívar

   

   Plaza de Bolívar is the city's main open public space, set in the old quarter between Carreras 1 and 3 and Calles 14 and 15. Because Santa Marta was one of the first cities in the Americas, this square became a model the Spanish Empire repeated across its American territories: the first houses and the seat of government went up around it.

   Notice how it faces the bay. That was deliberate: the colonists pushing into the interior feared the response of the local peoples, and a square open to the sea made escape easier. The name changed with the times. It began as the Plaza de Armas, after the infantry barracks next door, became the Plaza de la Constitución after independence, and finally took Bolívar's name because his body lay in state here.

   In the centre stands a replica of an equestrian statue of Bolívar by the Italian sculptor Adamo Tadolini. On the eastern side you will find the Fuente de las cuatro caras, the four-faced fountain, designed and made in Italy and installed in the middle of the nineteenth century, next to the modern Edificio de Los Bancos.

   Walk the edges to read the square. On the north side stand the library of the Banco de la República, the old Casa de la Aduana and the Alcaldía in the former town hall. To the south you see bank offices, the Hotel República, traditional houses and the BBVA tower, along with the buildings of the Ministerio de Trabajo and Pevesca.

   The last leg is 240 m, about 3 minutes, to the Museo del Oro Tairona in that customs house on the north side.

   Hours

   Open 24/7 (public square, always accessible)

   Price

   Free (open-air public square)

   Location

   Plaza de Bolívar on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   Museo del Oro Tairona

   

   The Museo del Oro Tairona lives in the Casa de la Aduana, the old Customs House on the corner of Carrera 2 and Calle 14. It was built in 1730 on two floors, with a tower from which people watched ships arrive and goods being loaded and unloaded in the port. In 1970 it was declared a National Monument.

   This is where Bolívar's story in Santa Marta comes full circle. In the western section of the upper floor his body was laid out for a vigil in December 1830, before the burial in the cathedral where you began. Few buildings in the city have worn as many names: Palacio Verde, Castillo de San Lázaro, Casa del Consulado, commissariat of the United Fruit Company, Colonial Hotel and finally the Gold Museum.

   Today it is the regional branch of the Gold Museum run by Colombia's Banco de la República. The collection is about the goldsmithing and culture of the ancient peoples of the Sierra Nevada, the mountains you saw rising behind the bay.

   Go in. It is free, and it is the one stop on this walk that rewards real time, especially if you are curious about pre-Hispanic craft or want to see what the region looked like long before the Spanish arrived. Give it around 45 minutes.

   The route ends here. The cathedral is close by if you want to close the loop on foot.

   Hours

   Tue–Sat 09:00–17:00, Sun and holidays 10:00–15:00, Mon closed

   Price

   Free

   Website

   banrepcultural.org ↗

   Location

   Museo del Oro Tairona on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways Through Santa Marta

Not every day has room for the full route. These two halves each tell a complete story on their own.

Cathedral to the sea

Stops: 1, 2, 3

For a first hour in town: the church, the old market square and the open bay. Walking time is 15 minutes over 1,170 m, and nothing charges admission, though the cathedral welcomes a donation. Count on about an hour with time inside the cathedral.

Bolívar's last chapter

Stops: 4, 5, 6

For history readers short on time: the founder's promenade, the square where Bolívar lay in state and the old customs house. Only 5 minutes of walking over 360 m, all free, and roughly an hour and twenty minutes if you give the museum the attention it deserves.

How Long This Santa Marta Walk Takes with Visits

The route runs one way, from the cathedral to the museum, with 33 minutes of pure walking. The legs in the old town are short; the two longer ones carry you out to the bay and along the water before the route turns back into the historic quarter.

Plan about two and a half hours in total: a quarter hour or more in the cathedral, short pauses at the squares and the waterfront, and around 45 minutes in the Museo del Oro Tairona, which is the visit that rewards time most. Either shorter variant fits into an hour or a little more.

Before You Set Off in Santa Marta

• Start: The Catedral Basílica de Santa Marta is the recommended start, but you can join at any stop; the order here is simply the one that tells the story best.
• End: The walk finishes at the Museo del Oro Tairona. If you want to get back to the start, the GPS navigation in your browser can lead you there.
• Timing: The cathedral and the museum keep set hours and are not open all day, so check both before you pick your start time; the squares, the bay and the Camellon are always accessible.
• Admission: Every stop is free. The cathedral asks for nothing but welcomes donations, and the gold museum is free as well.

Common Questions About Walking Santa Marta