Ideas contest targets Walled City of Cartagena by 5 November
Published on 10/21/2026 at 16:13 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSIdeas and heritage planning
- Cartagena’s mayor, Italy’s embassy and AICS opened the national ideas contest on 8 October 2026.
- San Ignacio and San Francisco Javier are the two bastions linked by the proposed pedestrian solutions.
- UNESCO inscribed Cartagena’s fortified port and monuments on the World Heritage List in 1984.
- Applicants must submit proposals by 5 November 2026.
Ideas for the future of the Walled City of Cartagena are being sought in a national competition announced on 8 October 2026. The initiative concerns the fortified historic centre of Cartagena, Colombia, and asks young architects to rethink links between two of its bastions.
Ideas contest focuses on two Cartagena bastions
The competition, Imagina el futuro de las Murallas de Cartagena, is being organised by the Mayor’s Office of Cartagena, the Embassy of Italy in Colombia and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, known as AICS. The organisers are seeking proposals for San Ignacio and San Francisco Javier, two bastions on the historic centre’s waterfront.
The brief addresses continuity of pedestrian routes, universal accessibility, public space, landscape and cultural activity. The call is open to architecture students and architects aged up to 30, either individually or in teams of no more than three. The competition details also provide for ten finalist proposals, recognition for the three highest-ranked ideas and an official exhibition.
The announcement forms part of a wider cooperation project called Turismo Sostenible y Valorización de la Muralla de Cartagena de Indias. A report by El Tiempo’s account of the plan says the proposals could inform later technical studies, rather than constitute immediate construction works.
Cartagena’s fortifications give the contest its setting
The Walled City of Cartagena sits within a larger World Heritage property that includes the port, fortresses and monumental group of Cartagena. UNESCO describes the city as having South America’s most extensive fortification system and places its main military architecture in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Spanish defensive works were begun in 1586 and expanded to their present dimensions during the eighteenth century. Inside the walls, the historic centre includes the Centro, San Diego and Getsemani neighbourhoods, alongside the Cathedral of Cartagena, the Convent of San Pedro Claver and the Palace of the Inquisition.
That history gives the 2026 competition a precise architectural problem: the proposed connection between San Ignacio and San Francisco Javier must add pedestrian continuity without treating the fortifications as an ordinary urban building site. UNESCO records the property’s inscription in 1984 and identifies the walls as an example of military architecture from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Its World Heritage description also identifies the historic centre’s three neighbourhoods within the defensive walls.
What the proposals could mean for access
The call links conservation with movement through the waterfront sections of the fortified city. Its stated purpose is to explore elevated heritage bridges and paths that could restore continuity between the two bastions, while future decisions remain subject to the responsible authorities’ studies and approvals.
The competition therefore gives travellers a concrete development to watch rather than a completed attraction to visit. During the current call, the walls remain a historic setting for public movement, while the proposed connection is still an idea-gathering stage and not a confirmed new route.
Visiting Walled City of Cartagena: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- The ideas contest was announced on 8 October 2026, and submissions close at 5pm on 5 November 2026.
- The competition concerns the San Ignacio and San Francisco Javier bastions; it does not announce a closure or a new visitor entrance.
- The walled centre is in Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, within the World Heritage property inscribed in 1984.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
Searching for Walled City of Cartagena on social platforms
These links open searches for Walled City of Cartagena on each platform.
Frequently asked questions about Walled City of Cartagena
When does the ideas contest take place at Walled City of Cartagena?
The competition was announced on 8 October 2026, with submissions accepted until 5 November 2026.
What is the ideas contest changing at Walled City of Cartagena?
It seeks proposals for pedestrian links between the San Ignacio and San Francisco Javier bastions. It does not itself confirm construction or a new visitor route.
Where is Walled City of Cartagena and how do you get there?
It is in Cartagena on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, within the fortified historic centre included in the World Heritage property inscribed in 1984.
