Cartagena de Indias. A panoramic view from the air

Cartagena de Indias, the most beautiful city in Colombia and the Caribbean, is also the most heroic.

Object of greed and envy in colonial times, this privileged gateway to South America had to be walled and fortified in defense of attacks by pirates and filibusters. Still wrapped in its halo of greatness, Cartagena is a living testimony of history and, incidentally, the most photographed city in the country. A new book about her seemed impossible. But, technology and imagination enabled the project that, directed by Benjamín Villegas, would decipher the city again: a remote-controlled helicopter, equipped with a versatile camera, designed by the Colombian Carlos Hoyos, scanned the city again. That Cartagena never seen before, recently rediscovered, is what this book delivers.