Mompox

Mompox is a stunning Colombian town renowned for its architecture, culture and its great natural surrounding landscape. Mompox is a town frozen in time. While the rest of the country has evolved and modernised, Mompox looks pretty much as it used to be during colonial times, for this reason, it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1995.

Santa Cruz de Mompox (its official name) is located in an island surrounded by an arm of the Magdalena river, in the Momposina depression between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Sierra de San Lucas. The town was founded in 1540 and was an important trading centre during the Spanish rule due to its strategic location. The Magdalena is Colombia's longest river and was the main transport route from the Caribbean coast to the centre of the country during colonial times. Mompox was also a safe place for the Spaniards to keep gold and other treasures protected from the siege of pirates and a refuge for the families running away from the pirate attacks in Cartagena.