Cartagena Cathedral, Ruined former cathedral in Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena Cathedral, also called Santa María la Vieja, is a roofless shell of a former Romanesque Revival church on the hill of La Concepción in the old town. Its broken walls and empty window openings stand above the remains of a Roman theatre that was partly reused in the building.

The diocese of Cartagena was restored in 1250, but the episcopal seat moved to Murcia by the end of that century, leaving the church to become a parish. Its foundations failed in the late 1800s, and after damage in 1936 it was shelled and abandoned in 1939.

The statue of the Christ of Succour was once kept here and drew a brotherhood that still shapes local processions today. Visitors can see how the ruin now serves as an open landmark above the old quarter, with modern walkways passing close to its base.

The site is easy to reach on foot from the center, and the open ruins can be viewed from several angles without any formal entry. Be ready for uneven stone underfoot and bring water in warm months, because there is little shade among the walls.

In 1871 the city council donated an alabaster altarpiece from one of the side chapels to the newly opened National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. Few visitors realize that this broken shell was partly built with stone taken from the Roman theatre discovered beneath it in 1988.