CARTAGENA, Spain, a city and fortified seaport and naval arsenal in the province of Murcia, and 27 miles south-southeast of the city of Murcia. Its harbor is one of the larg est and safest in the Mediterranean. The city, located at the northern end of the harbor, is surrounded by a lofty wall, flanked with bas tions. The principal buildings are the cathe dral dating from the 13th century, now con verted into a simple parish church; the old castle, supposed to date from the foundation of the city by the Carthaginians; the barracks, arsenal, presidio or convict establishment, the military hospital, the Hospital de Caridad, the artillery park, the observatory, the convents of Saint Augustine and Monjas, and several other convents and churches. Great improvements have been made recently in the accommodation for shipping by the construction of moles, wharves, breakwaters and a floating dock. Lead smelting is largely carried on; and there are also in the neighborhood rich mines of excellent iron, which are connected with the harbor by means of a tramway about eight miles in length. Esparto grass, compressed by hydraulic power, is largely shipped; other ex ports are metallic ores, wine and fruit. Timber,
coal and codfish are the principal imports. Cartagena (ancient Carthago Nova) was founded by the Carthaginians about 228 B.C., and it was dig Carthaginians who first worked the copper mines. It was taken by Scipio Afri canus 210 a.c., and afterward became a Roman colony. In 425 A.D. the Vandals largely de stroyed it; and in 711, after having been in possession of the Visigoths, it again suffered destruction at the hands of the Saracens. Un der them it became an independent principality, which was conquered finally by James I of Aragon in 1276. In 1585 it was sacked by the English fleet under Sir Francis Drake. When Spain possessed her colonies and was in a flourishing condition, Cartagena was one of i her most important naval stations and carried on a very extensive commerce. In 1873 a body of communists obtained possession of the city and fortifications, but they were compelled to surrender in the following year. Pop. (1911) 102,542. In 1870 the population was 26,000.