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Port of Cartagena

Ports and harbours of the Spanish Mediterranean coastSpain stubsSport in Cartagena, Spain
View of Cartagena from the fortification East of the city 2016 c
View of Cartagena from the fortification East of the city 2016 c

The port of Cartagena (Spanish: Puerto de Cartagena) is the port located in Cartagena, Spain. It is the fourth nationwide port in freight traffic behind Algeciras, Valencia and Barcelona. It occupies the eighth place in relation to the number of cruises. 60% of exports and the 80% of imports from the Region of Murcia are made through the port of Cartagena. More than 40% of the tourism that Cartagena receives is made by its port.It historical importance relies on both the good harbour offered by the natural bay and its strategic location near the East–West maritime route linking the Suez Canal to the strait of Gibraltar. It was used by the Punic civilization, and then by Romans. Besides its location, it also was appreciated at the time because of the metal ore mining (argentifourous galenas) in the surrounding mountains as well as the esparto exports.In 2006, the Autoridad Portuaria de Cartagena proposed the expansion of the port with a new dock in El Gorguel. The estimated cost exceeded 1500 million of euros. The Port of Cartagena has two independent docks (Cartagena and Escombreras), separated from each other by a distance of 5 km by road and 1.5 miles by sea.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Port of Cartagena (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Port of Cartagena
Carretera al Espalmador, Cartagena

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 37.583333333333 ° E -0.98333333333333 °
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Carretera al Espalmador
30201 Cartagena (Diputación de San Antonio Abad)
Spain
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View of Cartagena from the fortification East of the city 2016 c
View of Cartagena from the fortification East of the city 2016 c
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Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena (Spanish pronunciation: [kaɾtaˈxena]) is a Spanish city and a major naval station on the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Iberia. As of January 2018, it has a population of 218,943 inhabitants. This makes Cartagena Murcia's second-largest municipality and Spain's sixth-largest city that is not a provincial-capital. The wider urban or metropolitan area of Cartagena, known as Campo de Cartagena, has a population of 409,586 inhabitants. Cartagena has been inhabited for over two millennia, being founded around 227 BC by the Carthaginian Hasdrubal the Fair as Qart Hadasht (Phoenician: 𐤒𐤓𐤕𐤟𐤇𐤃𐤔𐤕 QRT𐤟ḤDŠT; meaning "New Town"), the same name as the original city of Carthage. The city had its heyday during the Roman Empire, when it was known as Carthago Nova (the New Carthage) and Carthago Spartaria, capital of the province of Carthaginensis. Much of the historical significance of Cartagena stemmed from its coveted defensive port, one of the most important in the western Mediterranean. Cartagena has been the capital of the Spanish Navy's Maritime Department of the Mediterranean since the arrival of the Spanish Bourbons in the 18th century. As far back as the 16th century it was one of the most important naval ports in Spain, together with Ferrol in the North. It is still an important naval seaport, the main military haven of Spain, and is home to a large naval shipyard.The confluence of civilizations, its strategic harbor, and the influence of the local mining industry have led to a unique historic, architectural and artistic heritage. This heritage is reflected in a number of landmarks of Cartagena, including the Roman Theatre, an abundance of Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine and Moorish remains, and a plethora of Art Nouveau buildings from the early 20th century. Cartagena is now established as a major cruise ship destination in the Mediterranean and an emerging cultural focus. It was the first of a number of cities that have been named Cartagena, most notably Cartagena, Colombia.

Battle of New Carthage

The battle of New Carthage took place in early 209 BC when a Roman army under Publius Cornelius Scipio successfully assaulted New Carthage, the capital of Carthaginian Iberia, which was defended by a garrison under Mago. The battle was part of the Second Punic War. In 211 BC the Romans in Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal) were heavily defeated at the battle of the Upper Baetis. Reinforcements arrived in early 210 BC and Scipio brought further reinforcements when he took command late in the year. Scipio felt unable to draw into battle and defeat any of the three strong Carthaginian armies in the peninsula and so decided to strike at the material centre of Carthaginian power in Iberia: its capital, New Carthage. He arrived outside the city early in 209 BC and commenced his attack the next day. After defeating a Carthaginian force outside the walls, he pressed an attack on the east gate. Simultaneously men from the Roman ships attempted to escalade the wall to the south from the harbour area. Both attacks were repulsed. In the afternoon Scipio renewed the attacks. Hard-pressed, Mago moved men from the north wall, which overlooked a broad, shallow lagoon. Anticipating this, Scipio sent a force of 500 men through the lagoon to scale the north wall, which they did unopposed. They fought their way to the east gate, opened it from inside and let in their comrades. New Carthage fell and was sacked, and Mago surrendered the citadel and the last of his troops. Vast amounts of precious metal and war materiel were seized. New Carthage became the logistics centre of the Roman war effort in Iberia and by 206 BC the Carthaginians had been expelled from the peninsula.