Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

Two nearly identical domains exist for the fort's operator, and only one of them is current. fortificacionescartagena.com.co is ETCAR's live official site, and its online ticket shop sits at compraenlinea.fortificacionescartagena.com.co. The lookalike domain fortificacionescartagena.com, without the ".co", carries the same layout but shows a stale price range for the same fortress, a range that runs from roughly $1,000 to $25,000 COP and does not match a single figure on the current official grid. That gap alone is reason enough to check the address bar before you pay: always book at the .com.co shop, never the mirror.

The fort began as the Castillo de San Lázaro, built on the hill of the same name to guard the city's landward approach. Construction was finalized by 1536 and it was expanded between 1639 and 1657 into the triangular fortress visible today, built with African slave labor under Spanish supervision, with eight batteries and a garrison of about 200 soldiers. Its current name honors King Philip IV of Spain and Governor Pedro Zapata de Mendoza, Marquis of Barajas.

The fort's defensive record was mixed early on. In the 1697 raid on Cartagena, French privateer Baron de Pointis captured the castle along with the rest of the city. Engineer José de Herrera y Sotomayor repaired the damage in 1739, just in time for the fort's biggest test: in April 1741, British Admiral Edward Vernon attacked with a fleet that included 50 warships and more than 25,000 men, in what became the Battle of Cartagena de Indias. Spanish forces under Blas de Lezo repelled the assault on San Felipe, inflicting roughly 800 British dead and taking another 1,000 prisoner before Vernon lifted the siege. Engineer Antonio de Arévalo expanded the fortress again in 1763, and it reached the footprint you walk today. In 1984 UNESCO inscribed the castle, together with Cartagena's historic center, as a World Heritage Site.

The fortification is a series of walls, wide at the base and narrowing toward the parapet, forming a pattern of interlinked bunkers where the batteries and parapets cover one another. What draws most visitors is the maze of tunnels running through the hill, a main underground gallery at sea level that could be flooded or collapsed on command to stop an attacker who got that far. Only some of the tunnels are open to the public, the rest remain closed, and no official source publishes exactly what share of the network you can walk. The lit, open sections still give a real sense of the scale, dark stone corridors that connect the batteries de Santa Bárbara, San Carlos, Hornabeque, de la Cruz and de la Redención around the fort's triangular footprint.

Bring a light if you have one, since some stretches are dim even during the day, and expect low ceilings and narrow turns in places. The fort sits 41 meters above sea level, so the climb between levels adds up, and the stone stairs are uneven in the older sections.

Three ways to route the visit

ETCAR does not publish a recommended visit length, so the routings below are our own estimates based on the fort's size and what each pace actually covers.

- The fort has been captured exactly once. French privateer Baron de Pointis took it during his 1697 raid on Cartagena, the only time it fell to a direct assault [Wikipedia, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, read for this guide]. - The 1741 defense is one of the most lopsided in colonial military history. Blas de Lezo's forces inflicted roughly 800 British dead and took 1,000 prisoners against Vernon's assault, a defeat so complete that Vernon had already ordered commemorative coins struck in London before the battle [Wikipedia, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas]. - Only part of the tunnel network is open to the public. The fort's underground galleries could be deliberately flooded to trap an attacking force, and no official source states what share of that system visitors can actually walk [Wikipedia, Castillo San Felipe de Barajas]. - The ticket has five free categories most visitors never check. Beyond the standard adult and child prices, entry is free for Colombian seniors 62 and older, disabled visitors plus one companion, and Colombian nationals on the last Sunday of every month except January and December [ETCAR official visitor page, checked 2026-09-18]. - A near-identical domain sells the wrong price. fortificacionescartagena.com, without the ".co", displays a stale range that does not match a single figure on the real ETCAR ticket shop [ETCAR official visitor page vs. the .com mirror, checked 2026-09-18].

The fort sits on San Lázaro hill east of the walled city, close enough for a taxi or rideshare but too far and too uphill for most visitors to enjoy walking in Cartagena's midday heat. A taxi from the historic center or Bocagrande runs a short, cheap ride, and drivers know the site by name. If you arrive with a guided tour or shared tour, transport is already part of the booking, which is one reason those cards are worth the extra dollars over a self-arranged taxi plus a separate ticket.

Once you are dropped at the entrance on Avenida Antonio Arévalo, the ticket booths and the main ramp up into the fortress are close to the parking and drop-off area, so there is no long approach walk before you reach the paid area. Buy your ticket online in advance at compraenlinea.fortificacionescartagena.com.co if you want to skip any line at the gate, particularly useful in the middle of the day when cruise-ship groups tend to arrive in waves.