Getsemaní

Getsemaní is Cartagena's most vibrant neighbourhood — a former working-class district adjacent to the Walled City that has transformed into the city's creative, nightlife, and street art epicentre while retaining the community character that the heavily touristed centro has lost. The streets around Plaza de la Trinidad are lined with murals by Colombian and international artists, and the evening scene — domino games on the plaza, salsa music from the bars, street food vendors selling arepas and empanadas — captures Cartagena's Afro-Caribbean energy.

Plaza de la Trinidad is Getsemaní's living room — a small church square where residents gather every evening, children play, and the line between tourist entertainment and neighbourhood social life is deliberately blurred. The bars and restaurants on Calle de la Media Luna and the surrounding streets serve cocktails, Caribbean seafood, and the kind of creative Colombian food that has made Cartagena a culinary destination.

Getsemaní's gentrification is a live and contested process — long-term residents face rising rents as boutique hotels and restaurants move in, and the neighbourhood's future hangs on whether the community character that attracts visitors will survive the commercial pressure that visitors create.