Convento de Santo Domingo (Saint Domingo Convent), Cartagena

The Convento de Santo Domingo is a 16th-century convent that lent its name to the lively Santo Domingo Square in front of it. The convent is also home to the oldest church in Cartagena, and was originally assigned to the Dominican Order under the name of "Convento de San Daniel".

The sanctuary accommodated the community of Dominican friars until the 19th century when it was expropriated and handed over to the diocese of Cartagena, serving as a seminary, a college, and then the institute of fine arts.

The church's facade is painted golden orange and has a massive decorative stone archway as the main entrance. The whole structure features a classic Spanish Colonial style accentuated by a quadrangular bell tower.

Inside the temple is a lovely marble altarpiece at the front of the central nave. On the right side of the church is an ornate altar with a carved wooden statue of Christ. The floor in front of the high altar is paved with inscribed tombstones. A metal spiral staircase leads to an inside mezzanine along the right side.

In the city filled with all sorts of sculptures, the most intriguing, perhaps, is the one located right outside the church - "La Gorda Gertrudis" (Fat Gertruda), the famous statue of a nude woman, created by Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero.