This beautiful example of Spanish colonial architecture contains a small museum dedicated to the Spanish Inquisition's brutal persecution of heretics once carried out in these very chambers. Visitors can still see some of the torture devices used to extract confessions of heresy and witchcraft, along with some of the questions used in "witch" interrogations, which are still displayed on the museum wall. Needless to say, no prisoner could hope to be acquitted of their purported crimes against the Catholic Church, and most met their tragic end at the very guillotine still on display in the courtyard.

While seasoned travellers may venture into Cartagena's gritty Bazurto Market on their own, those not yet toughened by locals-only markets of the region may prefer to explore as part of a guided tour. This sprawling market, where trade starts before the crack of dawn, features incredibly fresh produce and seafood from Cartagena and beyond; much of it makes its way to the tables of local fine dining establishments within the space of the same day. There is plenty to look at and taste, including local street food and multiple succulent varieties of tropical fruit you're unlikely to have encountered before.

The Museum is a multi-discipline scientific and cultural institution, home to the 14th-century Jewish Haggadah - a handwritten, illuminated manuscript of the text of the Passover Haggadah. 34 pages of bleached calfskin illustrate key scenes in the Bible, from the creation to the death of Moses.