Before going to visit the Fort of San Felipe in Cartagena, I was checking out the souvenirs being sold outside. After making small talk in my very limited Spanish with some of the locals, one guy told my wife and I to go around the corner to see the “zapatos”. We weren’t looking to buy shoes but figured it was worth the five minute walk to see what the guy was talking about.
After walking to the back of the fort, this is what we saw:
The sculpture seems to be a popular stop for locals and tourists. I hadn’t seen anything about it online or in my guide book but was glad this guy told us to go check it out. It definitely made for a fun photo-op!
The sculpture was made to commemorate local poet Luis Carlos Lopez. He spent most of his life in Cartagena and wrote a poem to honor the city . Right next to the statue is a plaque with that poem:
I saw this sculpture when on a visit to Cartagena in 1963! I was part of a small Royal Navy squadron involved in a ‘Showing the flag’ circumnavigation of South America, but was unable to find out any details regarding this rather unique structure at that time. Just recently, whilst digitising my 35mm slides, I came across a shot of this which then prompted my query. A very old puzzle, now resolved.
Muchas gracias.
Anonymous- Thanks!
Kim- Glad my post could help. The sculpture is pretty cool to see in person!
Linda Sinuc- That should be really interesting to go back to Cartagena after so many years. Enjoy!
I lived in Cartagena in 1967-68 with my husband who was working for Abonos Colombianos. (they were partially owned by Exxon then).
We were told the symbolism of the shoes/boots was that Cartagena was as comfortable as a pair of “old shoes”…….We are returning to Cartagena in March, 2016 and cannot wait to see the changes!
I was glad to come across your blog. The boots are awesome and I have what i believe is an ashtray with a sculpture of these boots and was racking my brain trying find info on it. Well, this is it. It does say Cartagena on the front though a little illegible until I seen this. Thanks for sharing, we never know where we will find that little bit of info that we are looking for. Btw, I love this sculpture that’s why I bought this piece. I’m wondering the age so I’m off to research.
Thanks again
Cool Story Bro