Every year in September, when the heat of summer is beginning to die down, the city of Cartagena goes back to a time more than 200 years before the birth of Christ when in the space of a few years it was known first as Qart-Hadast and then as Carthago Nova, as it celebrates the annual fiestas of the Carthagineses y Romanos.Cartagena, Spain, was a Punic town (Carthago Nova - New Carthage) founded in the third century B.C.E. by Hasdrubal the Fair, Hannibal's brother-in law.* The ten-day festival begins on the third Friday in September (this year the 19th).[...]
I will have more for you on the 2025 festival later on. Watch this space.
For earlier posts on the festival, as well as on the history and archaeology of the city, see here and links.
The Phoenician ship, the Mazzarón II (with various spellings), was raised last year and is currently being reassembled and restored in Cartagena.
*I know that the article says that the founder was Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal Barca. Confusingly, there were lots of Hasdrubals. But Hasdrubal the Fair founded New Carthage. (I can't believe the rabbit holes this blog takes me down every day.)
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