Barrio del Foro Romano (Underground Roman Forum)
Most visitors walk straight over it without knowing: beneath the streets around the cathedral hill lies a substantial section of Roman Carthago Nova's civic forum, accessible through a discreet entrance on Calle Caballero. It's one of Cartagena's least-crowded yet most atmospheric experiences — a subterranean world of porticoes, tabernae and mosaic fragments.
What Survives Underground
The excavated area preserves the remains of the forum's portico, several commercial tabernae (shops), a section of the cardo maximus street and fragments of polychrome mosaic flooring that hint at the original grandeur of the space. Interpretation panels are clear and well-translated into English.
The site was discovered during building works in the 1980s and excavation is still ongoing in adjacent plots. The visible section represents only a fraction of what archaeologists believe lies beneath the modern city grid — which makes the experience feel genuinely exploratory.
Pairing It with the Cathedral Above
The old cathedral of Cartagena (Santa María la Vieja) stands directly above part of the forum site, and its own foundations incorporate Roman masonry — you can see the join clearly from inside the church. Together, the two form a compressed vertical timeline from the 1st century BC to the 13th century AD.
Visit on a weekday morning when the site is almost entirely empty. The combination of dim archaeological lighting, cool underground air (welcome in summer) and the sound of the city muffled overhead creates an atmosphere that no amount of tourist infrastructure can replicate.
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