Iglesia de San Pedro Claver, Cartagena

Iglesia de San Pedro Claver, Cartagena tickets: which one to buy

The Sanctuary of San Pedro Claver stands on the square of the same name inside the walled old city of Cartagena, Colombia, and the adjoining museum, in the former Jesuit cloister, is ticketed; the church can be visited during services or as part of the museum ticket. It is one of the most important historic buildings in Cartagena, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and walking tours of the old city always include it, along with the cathedral, the Palace of the Inquisition, the Plaza de Bolivar and the city walls.

The museum offers guided tours in Spanish and English. The church is an active place of worship, and it attracts pilgrims devoted to the saint. The square in front has sculptures of local life by the artist Edgardo Carmona. The heat is intense in the middle of the day, so visit in the morning. Tickets for the museum are sold at the cloister entrance on the right side of the church.

Visiting Iglesia de San Pedro Claver, Cartagena: what to see

The church and convent were built by the Jesuits in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and the church was completed in the 1730s, with a dome and a stone facade. The sanctuary is dedicated to Saint Peter Claver, a Spanish Jesuit who lived in Cartagena from 1610 until his death in 1654, and who devoted his life to caring for enslaved Africans arriving on slave ships, baptising, feeding and nursing them; he called himself the slave of the slaves. He was canonised in 1888 and is the patron saint of human rights in Colombia. His remains are kept in a glass casket beneath the high altar of marble.

The cloister, with two floors of arches around a garden with trees, holds the museum, which displays religious art, pre-Columbian pottery and Afro-Colombian art, and the saint's cell and the room where he died. The museum displays the saint's personal objects, including a portrait and records of the baptisms he performed. The courtyard garden holds tropical trees and a well. The church interior is lofty, with a baroque high altar and marble floors. Stairs lead to the upper cloister and a view over the domes and the city walls. The saint's cell is plain and small. A room shows paintings by Afro-Colombian artists. The dome can be seen from far across the old city.

Iglesia de San Pedro Claver, Cartagena opening hours and the best time to go

The museum is open daily, with shorter hours on Sundays. Cartagena is hot and humid all year, and the dry season from December to April is the most comfortable time to visit. Morning is the best time for walking the old city, and sunset on the walls is a local tradition. The feast of Saint Peter Claver on 9 September brings celebrations. Holy Week and the Christmas season bring crowds and processions. Evenings in the old city are lively, with horse-drawn carriages and restaurants. Allow about forty-five minutes for the church and museum, and walk to the city walls afterwards. The Museum of Modern Art of Cartagena, a short walk away, is housed in a former customs building on the same square.