Afro-Colombian Cartagena: Routes of the Cabildos and the Heritage of the Cimarrones in Getsemaní

Origins

Cartagena de Indias cannot be understood without Africa. And I don't say that as a brochure line: I say it because the very layout of the city, its brotherhoods, its music of gaitas and drums, and even the accent of its markets, were born from the violent encounter between the Spanish Crown and thousands of people forcibly brought from the Gulf of Guinea, Angola, the Congo and the coast of Guinea. Between 1580 and 1650, Cartagena was one of the most active slave ports in the Caribbean. According to colonial records preserved in the Archivo General de la Nación and the Archivo Histórico de Cartagena, tens of thousands of enslaved Africans entered through here. Many stayed in the city; others were resold to Panama, Portobelo, Lima or the interior of the New Kingdom.

From that uprooting were born the cabildos of Africans and their descendants: urban brotherhoods that functioned as mutual aid societies, schools of language and memory, and —this is key— as spaces of religious and political autonomy within a city that kept watch over them. The cabildos had kings and queens of origin (congo, carabalí, arará, mina), elected from within the community itself. They gathered on Sundays and on saints' feast days, and under the patronage of a Catholic virgin or saint they kept their languages, their songs and their forms of organization alive. In Cartagena, the cabildos settled mainly in the outskirts: Getsemaní, the neighborhood on the other shore, and the extramuros of the walled city.

The Afro-descendant route I propose here can be done on foot in a morning. Reference prices range from free entry to community museums to guided tours costing tens of thousands of pesos, always subject to change and to direct verification with each space. On malokal.com you'll find the interactive cards for each place, with a safe map by neighborhood (Locals vs. Foreigners), live holiday schedules and direct booking via WhatsApp.

Timeline or historical milestones

The Afro-descendant memory of Cartagena is not a homogeneous block: it is a sequence of resistances, pacts and reinventions. These are the milestones worth having clear before walking Getsemaní.

• 1580–1650 — The slave port. Cartagena consolidates as a mandatory stop in the Caribbean slave trade. Africans arrive at the market of the plaza de la Aduana and from there are distributed. In the outskirts, brotherhoods of free blacks and mulattoes begin to form.
• 1596 — The escape of Benkos Biohó. According to the tradition recorded by local chroniclers and historians, Benkos Biohó, a leader of Mandinka origin —described in the literature as a caudillo of the enslaved— escapes from the port of Cartagena along with other people and goes into the hills of Matuna and the marsh of la Matuna, south of the city. There a palenque is formed: free territory of cimarrones.
• 1603 — The peace pact. After years of harassment, the Crown negotiates with Biohó a pacification agreement: a certain autonomy is recognized for the palenque in exchange for its inhabitants not raiding the city. It is one of the first formal recognitions of a cimarrón territory in America.
• 1621 — The execution of Biohó. The agreement breaks down and Benkos Biohó is executed by the colonial government. Tradition tells that his body was quartered and displayed as a public warning. His death does not dissolve the palenque: it turns it into a symbol. The date is an anchor point for understanding the long duration of cimarrón resistance in the region of Cartagena and the Montes de María.
• 1691 — San Basilio de Palenque. The palenque of San Basilio, in the Montes de María, receives recognition as free territory. Its language, palenquero —a Bantu-based creole with Spanish that remains alive and unique in the world—, and its organization of kuagros and ma-kuagros are today a World Heritage Site. Many families from Getsemaní and neighborhoods like El Cabrero have roots there.
• 1811–1815 — Independence and the pardos. In the independence struggle of Cartagena, artisans, mulattoes and free blacks from Getsemaní participate actively. The neighborhood, extramuros and with a mostly Afro-descendant population, becomes a bastion of the militias and of the resistance during the siege of 1815. Popular memory links Getsemaní with the signing and defense of the Act of Independence of 1811.
• 20th century — From the outskirts to the heritage neighborhood. Getsemaní goes from being an area of artisans, slaughterhouses and working-class housing to a neighborhood in the process of gentrification. In 1984 the historic center and Getsemaní are declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The declaration brings restoration, but also real estate pressure and displacement.
• 2005–2026 — The Afro vindication. Law 70 of 1993 and the constitutional recognition of the country's multiethnic character drive memory processes: community museums, cultural tourism routes and organizations of local Afro-descendant guides. In 2026, the conversation in Cartagena is no longer only about walls: it is about who tells the story and who benefits from tourism.

Key figures or events

Benkos Biohó

The central figure. Born at the end of the 16th century, probably in the region of Guinea-Bissau, he was captured and brought to Cartagena. His escape and the founding of the palenque of la Matuna made him the greatest symbol of cimarrón freedom in Colombia. Tradition describes him as a leader who negotiated with the colonial authorities as an equal, and whose execution in 1621 sealed the definitive break. His name appears today in plazas, schools and in the memory of the palenqueros who sell fruit in the Plaza de la Trinidad. He should not be confused with a legendary character: colonial documents mention him, although his exact biography has gray areas that historians continue to debate.

The cabildos and their queens

Less famous than Biohó, but just as important, were the cabildo queens. Women who organized the festivities of the Virgen de la Candelaria or San Benito, administered the brotherhood's funds and passed on songs and recipes. In Cartagena, the cabildos of congo and carabalí origin left their mark on drum music and on the organization of the November festivities. Their legacy is less visible in monuments, but it is alive in the processions and in the gaita groups that rehearse in Getsemaní.

Getsemaní and Independence

The neighborhood on the other shore was, during the siege of 1815, one of the points where popular resistance grew strong. Artisans, shoemakers, tailors and pardo militiamen defended the city against the royalist troops of Pablo Morillo. Local historiography emphasizes that the Independence of Cartagena was not only a matter of criollo lettered men: it was also an uprising of Afro-descendant neighborhoods that put their bodies on the line. That memory is commemorated every November 11, when the city recalls its absolute independence.

The palenquera heritage

San Basilio de Palenque, about two hours from Cartagena, is the first free town in America to be formally recognized. Its language, palenquero, mixes a Bantu base with Spanish. Many palenquera families settled in Cartagena neighborhoods like El Cabrero, where oral tradition recalls the founders and the cimarrón leaders. Today, the palenqueras who sell sweets in the Plaza de la Trinidad and the Plaza de los Coches are direct heirs of that history: their presence in public space is a living reminder of the African diaspora in the city.

Current situation

The Afro-descendant Cartagena of 2026 lives a palpable tension. On the one hand, memory tourism grows: guided tours of Getsemaní that speak of cimarrones, murals that portray Benkos Biohó, community museums that rescue the history of the cabildos. On the other, gentrification advances: rents rise, artisans' workshops become hostels and the families who lived for generations in Getsemaní move to peripheral neighborhoods. The question that runs through the streets is not whether the Afro story should be told, but who tells it and who keeps the income.

For the traveler interested in social history, there are specific spaces where that memory is worked with rigor and with the community. Here are the main ones, with the usual warning: schedules and prices change, and it is advisable to confirm before going.

Plaza de la Trinidad

The heart of Getsemaní. Surrounded by colorful houses, almond trees and concrete benches, the plaza is the meeting point for musicians, fruit vendors and neighbors who bring their chairs out to the door at dusk. Here you breathe the popular Cartagena: there is no wall, no monumental clock, only the comings and goings of people who live the neighborhood. Around it you can see murals that allude to cimarrón history and African heritage, and it is common to find gaita groups rehearsing. It is a free place, open all day, ideal for starting the Afro-descendant route and for sitting to observe without haste. The church of la Santísima Trinidad, which presides over the plaza, is a visual landmark of the neighborhood; its architectural history is that of an outskirts temple, not a cathedral, and that is part of its charm.

Barrio Getsemaní

Walking Getsemaní is walking the history of the Cartagena that did not fit inside the walls. Its narrow streets, its wooden balconies and its houses with high ceilings were home to artisans, freedmen and pardo militiamen. Today the neighborhood mixes screen-printing workshops, boutique hostels, design shops and fondas where you eat rice with coconut and fried fish at neighborhood prices. For the visitor, the recommendation is to walk without haste: calle del Espíritu Santo, calle de la Sierpe, calle del Pozo. The murals that portray Benkos Biohó and the palenqueras are part of the landscape and have become points of memory. That said: the neighborhood is residential, and respect for the neighbors is part of the deal. Lodging and food prices vary greatly depending on the season; it is advisable to check the Malokal cards before booking.

Museo Histórico de Cartagena

Located in the old Palacio de la Inquisición, in the Plaza de Bolívar, this museum is the mandatory gateway to understanding the colonial context in which slavery developed in Cartagena. Its rooms trace the history of the city from the Colonial period to Independence, and include pieces related to the Inquisition and to the daily life of the era. It is a space that helps situate the cabildos and cimarrón resistance within the colonial system that repressed them. The visit can be combined with a tour of the walled center. It is recommended to verify schedules and rates before visiting, as they change depending on the season and holidays.

Casa de la Cultura de Getsemaní

A community space that f