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:
A Mi Ciudad Nativa (To My Native City)