Plaza de la Aduana

The Plaza de la Aduana holds a stone plaque marking the spot where Pedro de Heredia founded Cartagena in fifteen thirty-three. Its most prominent feature is the deep ochre facade of the former customhouse, the Edificio de la Aduana, which once funneled the wealth of the Spanish empire through its gates. Back in the seventeen hundreds, the local treasury was housed here, and goods coming off the ships had to be registered and taxed before they could legally enter the walled city.