Getsemaní is the neighborhood directly outside Cartagena's walled city, and it is the part of town we point guests towards when they want an afternoon in the city that isn't the colonial postcard. It is a residential barrio first and a visitor destination second. The lanes are narrow, the walls are painted, umbrellas and kites hang on wires above the streets, and people live their evenings outdoors in it.
We're on Bahía de Cholón, on Barú Island, so a day in Getsemaní is a crossing and a plan rather than a stroll out of the lobby. Our boat takes 30 minutes to an hour between Cartagena and us, which is short enough to make an afternoon and an early evening in the city perfectly reasonable, and long enough that you want the return leg agreed before you go.
Where Getsemaní actually is, and how it differs from the old city
Getsemaní sits just beyond the walls, on the landward side, next to the old city rather than inside it. That single fact explains most of the difference in character. Inside the walls you get the restored colonial façades, the balconies and the carriage traffic. In Getsemaní you get houses that are still houses, plazas that fill with residents rather than only with visitors, and murals covering whole street walls. The neighborhood had a rough reputation for decades and has changed substantially, with many of the old buildings now cafés, small hotels and restaurants. The plazas have been reclaimed by the people who live around them.
We mention this because the two areas suit different hours. The walled city rewards the morning, before the heat and the cruise crowds. Getsemaní rewards the late afternoon and evening, when the heat drops and the plaza fills.
Calle de los Sombrillos, the umbrella street
Start with Calle de los Sombrillos, the lane with the open umbrellas strung on wires overhead. It is the most photographed street in the neighborhood and there is no point pretending otherwise: you will be one of several people with a camera. Go anyway, and go in the middle of the day if you are going to be out walking then, because the umbrellas throw real shade onto an otherwise unshaded street. The murals along the same walls are worth as much attention as the umbrellas, and they change.
Ten minutes is enough. It is a street, not an attraction, and the better use of your time is to keep walking the lanes around it where the paintwork and the strung kites continue without the crowd.
Plaza de la Trinidad and the statue of Pedro Romero
Plaza de la Trinidad is the center of the neighborhood, set in front of the Church of the Holy Trinity, and it is the one place we would tell you to be after dark rather than before it. In the evening the church steps become seating, food vendors set up around the edges, and the square fills with residents as much as with visitors. It costs nothing to sit there, which is rarer in Cartagena than it should be.
Outside the church stands the statue of Pedro Romero. He was a blacksmith, and in November 1811 he led the Lancers of Getsemaní in pressing Cartagena's governing council to vote for full independence from Spain, making Cartagena the first Colombian city to declare itself a free and independent state. He was also Cartagena's first non-white military officer. The statue is a two-minute stop and it is the reason the square means what it means to the people sitting on the steps beside you.
Coffee: Café del Mural, and Beiyu for a slower start
Café del Mural is the coffee stop in Getsemaní, and it is a working coffee bar rather than a souvenir shop with a grinder. The staff take the brewing seriously, and if you want more than a cup they run a coffee master class that lasts two hours, covers bean quality, storage and grinding, includes four or five tastings with snacks, and sends you home with a 200 gram bag of coffee. It is priced at 75 US dollars. For anyone who drinks coffee properly, that is a better souvenir than anything on the stalls.
Beiyu is the quieter alternative, a small café with an organic kitchen and a breakfast menu with a good number of vegetarian dishes. Go there if you have crossed from the island early and want to eat sitting down before you start walking. It is a modest room with an artistic streak, not a destination restaurant, and it is the better choice of the two if you want to linger over a table.
Street food in the lanes
The carts and the tables set up outside houses are part of how the neighborhood eats, not a performance for visitors. The arepa con queso is the thing to try: white corn dough pressed into a patty, grilled on both sides, split and filled with fresh cheese, then put back on the grill. It is sold as a snack and it will defeat most appetites on its own. The green sauce offered alongside is worth taking. Empanadas come off the same carts.
How we would run the day from Barú
If you're with us on Cholón, treat Getsemaní as an afternoon rather than a whole day. Cross after lunch, take the walled city first while the light is good, drop into Getsemaní as the heat breaks, and plan the return crossing for after dinner. Our boat runs between Cartagena and us in 30 minutes to an hour, and because it has limited capacity we ask that you reserve your place rather than assume it. If you are heading to the airport instead, allow an hour door to door from us, and leave three hours before your flight.
One honest note about the walking. Getsemaní is best seen on foot and the lanes are uneven, so bring shoes you can walk in and keep valuables where you would keep them in any city neighborhood after dark.