When Ferdinand and Isabella sent their Spanish ships and explorers to the New World they were looking for gold. They found it in Colombia…gold and silver beyond imagining. Cartagena de Indias was the harbor, the meeting point, where the ships, the gold and the slave trade converged. Ships brought African natives in their holds. Over 125,000 human beings were sold in the Plaza de la Antigua Real Contaduria in the intense plunder of the New World between 1595 and 1640.
Jesuit priests arrived alongside those slavers. One of those priests, the one called “slave of the slaves” was Pedro Claver. When the slavers left the sick and dying to rot in the holds of the Spanish ships, San Pedro entered and nursed them. For forty years he dedicated his life to the slaves of Cartagena. In the 19th century the Catholic church canonized Pedro Claver as a saint.
We visited San Pedro’s Sanctuary in the morning when the sanctuary and garden were quiet. We entered the church to find a small group of women all dressed in white celebrating with a little girl in a frothy white dress and crown. She laughed as her mother held her in front of the altar and the other women celebrated with photos. This is not a shrine. It is a living church with a lush contemplative garden.
MedFlies 
Hey there, I am enjoying all your wonderful photos! I love the early morning light and the guy with the baskets. It all looks so colorful and like a v different world but so livable. Thanks for sharing your experiences! love and be safe, Leah and Jeff
I am so glad your post came through Leah. I love the basket man too. The light and shadow her is wonderful.