Pre-Columbian period

The native peoples of the region currently occupied by Santa Marta were highlighted by their masterful works of orphebrería and engineering. ​ among them are the most developed urban sites of pre-Hispanic Colombia, such as the archeological ruins of Pueblito (Chayrama) in Tayrona National Park, the Lost City (Teyuna) in the Upper Buritaca River and la La Reserva area, at the head of the Cold River in Ciénaga. ​

Conquest

Rodrigo de Bastites Monument in Santa Marta Bay.

In 1501 Rodrigo de Bastites and Juan de la Cosa traveled along the coast from the end of the sailing to Urabá. ​ during that expedition, some soldiers left Santa Marta Bay, which Bastites identified as a suitable place to develop an urban center. ​ these soldiers were the first Europeans to mix with the local population. ​ In 1514, the fleet of Pedrarias Dávias she arrived in the area and, after confronting the natives, took several prisoners. ​

In 1525 Bastites officially founded the city near the mouth of the Manzanares River. ​ was the first governor of the province of Santa Marta and promoted cordial relations with local residents, ​ that led him to confront other Spaniards, who caused injuries that led him to die in Santiago de Cuba. ​

After his departure, the merchant and banker García de Lerma replaced him at the head of the Government. In 1528, he negotiated on behalf of Carlos V with the Welser family the colonization of Venezuela. ​

On 16 February 1533, the province of Nueva Andalucia and Urabá was divided into Cartagena and Santa Marta. ​

On April 27, 1585, white settlers were banned from enslaving indigenous Tupes and Wayús by royal ballot. ​, however, this ban was not enforced, which exacerbated conflicts between the new settlers and the traditional peoples of the region. ​

During this period, the Spanish conquerors expelled the matunas, who occupied these lands, ​ and razed the populations of other peoples who inhabited the region. ​ The war between the Spanish and the indigenous Taironas went on for almost the entire century. ​

Customs House, America's first European building.

During those years, Santa Marta had many difficulties in becoming urban. ​ During this period, the area was characterized by overcrowding, epidemics and ​ famines and was mainly a transit site for conquerors and other adventurers who moved to America in search of wealth. ​ The most important was Gonzalo Jiménez de Bogotá, the founder of Santafé de Bogotá, who he died of leprosy after failing in his quest for El Dorado. ​ In turn, the advance Pedro of Heredia passed through the current territory of Santa Marta before founding Cartagena. ​

For his part, the Spanish war against the Taironas leroed for about a century, between 1501 and 1600. ​ that year, Governor Juan Guiral Velón sent an expedition of 200 soldiers who defeated them at the end of the year. ​ More than seventy of his warlords were sentenced to death. ​ Some of them, such as Cacique Cuchque And so they suffered horrific deaths, ​ the survivors were displaced from their land and forced to pay for the Spanish campaign. ​

After the final occupation of the territory, the government's attention was focused on the slave trade in Cartagena, and then Santa Marta depopulated and declined. ​ At the end of the sixteenth century, it was reduced to twenty houses and had only about sixty residents. ​ In turn, the indigenous had been defeated and those who survived were forced to build villages in flat and easily accessible places from Santa Marta. ​

17th and 18th centuries

In 1600, the Spanish governor organized an armed contingent against the indigenous confederates of Jerimouth, Mamatoco, Bonda, Masinga, Durama, Origua, Dibókaka, Donama, Masaka and Chengue. ​

By 1619, King Felipe III appointed Francisco Martínez of Ribamontán Santander, who is descended by direct line Francisco de Paula Santander. ​ By 1650 the city had eight blocks and twenty one-story houses. ​ Its streets were narrow and dusty and its houses built of brick, mud And reeds, and they were covered with straw. ​

During the 17th and 17th centuries, the raids of the indigenous Chimila and Wayuu continued. ​ In turn, the city suffered dozens of attacks by pirates, who looted and burned it several times. ​ To this end, the colonial authorities built six fort and two vents between the 17th and 18th centuries. ​

During the last years of the Colony the city saw some of its architectural heritage emerge with works such as the Cathedral, the Customs House and the Seminar San Juan Nepomuceno. ​ At the end of the eighteenth century, the city reached the Third ​ race and its population increased to 3600. ​ Much of the investment in infrastructure and trade was concentrated in Cartagena, and Santa Marta lived. in a relative isolation. ​

In 1787, Carlos III issued a Royal ballot in which he ordered the construction of a cemetery on the outskirts of the city. ​ In 1808, the San Miguel building was inaugurated on the old road to Gaira. ​ During this period, colonial authorities ruled in favor of the indigenous and against the interests of the landowners, which had important repercussions during the Magnificent Campaign Dalena and the rest of Independence. ​

19th century

During Independence, the Creoles of Santa Marta were moved mainly by their rivalry with Cartagena, and hence the Bolivian armies, ​ and the indigenous people the perception that colonial authorities were more equal with them than the Creoles. ​ On January 6, 1813, the city was taken under the command of General Pierre Labatut. ​ This led to destruction from much of Santa Marta, ​ which in turn led the city board to support the Spanish expeditionary force in charge of the Reconquista. ​

In 1830, Simón Bolívar's body was buried in a vault in the Basilica Cathedral. He was there until 1842, when he was transferred to Caracas.

Indeed, on July 22, 1815, Spanish General Pablo Morillo and his realistic army entered the city. ​, The Pacifier gave a medal to all those who defended the province of Cartagena interests. From there, he organized the site in Cartagena. ​ ​ On November 11, 1820, when Santa Marta was taken over, pro-independence troops left 700 dead and 400 injured (mostly indigenous people recruited by the Spanish). ​

Although between 1840 and 1870, the city became the main port of importer and exporter of the newly independent New Granada. ​ In fact, during this period major transport companies, such as the Santa Marta Steam Company, developed. ​ also began the development of a regional railway network, which did not thrive. ​

During the same period, however, the population decreased, from about 6,000 inhabitants in 1835 to less than 4,500 in 1851. ​ This was due to several catastrophic events, such as the 1834 earthquake, the 1849 cholera epidemic ​ and the Manzanares floods of 1850, as well as the political instability and revolutions that occurred in the region during this period. ​

On April 1, 1848, the city inaugurated the Fountain of the Four Faces in an old ditch on Plaza de Bolívar to commemorate the abolition of slavery in Colombia. ​ At the end of the century, the Sierra Nevada became an important center of coffee production. ​ However, bananas were the main agricultural product in the region; in 1899 five companies form the United Fruit Company. ​

20th and 21st centuries

During the first decades of the 20th century, tobacco, cocoa, and especially bananas brought prosperity to the region and triggered a wave of migration. ​ The bonanza left some republican buildings in Santa Marta, such as the Palace of Justice ​ and other buildings on the Avenues of Libertador and Santa Rita. ​

The Palace of Justice, a neo-classical building from the beginning of the 20th century on the southern side of Los Novios Park.

In 1928, a strike by banana, railway and port workers ended in a massive massacre in Plaza de Ciénaga by the army in service of the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita). ​ workers demanded better working conditions and payments in ordinary currency rather than in company vouchers. ​ The massacre left several hundred people dead under a bullet and was denounced In Congress by the liberal politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán and narrated by Gabriel García Márquez in 100 years of solitude. ​ During the following decades banana exploitation was declining and in the middle of the century it moved to Urabá, in Antioquia. ​

In the 1950s, the tourist industry began to develop, with the construction of hotels on El Rodadero beach and a road connecting them to Santa Marta. ​ In 1958, the University of Magdalena ​ opened its doors and in 1964, Tayrona Park was created, ​ a natural park of 15,000 hectares. ​ In the 1970s, marijuana crops appeared, exploited by violent mafia groups and described by writer Laura Restrepo in her novel Leopardo al sol.​ Its negative consequences for tourism plunged the region into a crisis of several decades.​

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Santa Marta has become one of the main coal ports in the country. ​ Between 1994 and 2005, its exports increased from 2.3 million tons to 28 million tons, or more than half of the national total. ​ These activities had a severe environmental damage ​ which had a negative impact on tourism. ​ On 13 January 213, Drummond Company poured about 500 tons of coal into the bay after a barge incident. ​

On March 13, 2017, the new Simón Bolívar International Airport was inaugurated. ​ In November of the same year, the city organized the 18th Bolivarian Games, ​ with a record number of participants. ​ In this context, sports facilities such as the Sierra Nevada Stadium in the Bureche sector, ​ the Bolivarian Stadium of Baseball, the stadium of the city. Rugby, the Coliseum Mayor, a skating rink, the Coliseum of Gaira, an aquatic complex and a BMX track. ​

When Bastites received the capitulation to create a population in this area in 1524, the region was already known as Santa Marta (the territory had not been conquered yet), in fact as early as 1519 when Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo requested permission to populate it, he probably already received that name. ​

First and second arms shields of Santa Marta.

Because of this, it is considered that what would later be called Province of Santa Marta or Bay of the same name, were called this during the reconnaissance trip of Bastides and Juan de la Cosa located between 1500 and 1502 and in which they named other places and geographical accidents of the northern Colombian coast. There is a hypothesis that the name was given because they passed through the bay on February 23, Santa Marta de Astorga day.

Despite the above, it is generally accepted that the name of the city was given by its founder, Rodrigo de Bastites, on the day it was founded, namely 29 July, the day of Santa Marta. According to Antonio Julián: ​ arrived happily after taking a port in the province of his destination on July 29, a day dedicated in honor of the glorious Santa Marta for which reason the city that he later founded next to the port named Santa Marta, which extended to the entire province, ...

The flag of Santa Marta is in two colors: white and blue; the target, all united without resentment for this land; blue is the sky, it is the sea, it is the magic and silver horizon in the mountains.

The city did not have its coat of arms fully clarified, due in large part to the internal wars, fires, piracy and other acts that the city endured during the conquest and even the colony The first shield that used the city was granted by Felipe II of Spain Vigente in 1572. The second was used by Carlos III.

Since May 1929, the Mayor of Santa Marta began to wear the coat of turret and four-oar ship on their letterhead as the oldest of the blasons the city has seen. However, that left aside the Immaculate Conception that had been granted by the Spanish monarch in 1774, so since 1951 the municipal government included the virgin in its weapons, as it is today.

Main facade of the mayor's office.

Communes of the urban area of Santa Marta

Santa Marta is located in the department of Magdalena. It is governed by a democratically elected mayor for a four-year term. The current mayor is Rafael Martínez ​ and the Mayoress elected in 2019, Virna Johnson, both ​ of the Fuerza Ciudadana movement.

Political-administrative organization

The Capital of Magdalena has an administrative division of three localities to offer citizens networks of public services, road infrastructure, entertainment, educational, recreational, and other services.

Each town is divided into communes and these in turn into neighborhoods and urbanizations. On the outskirts of the city there are some small towns or villages considered here within the rural area.

In this sense, Santa Marta is made up of Locality I: ‘Cultural Tayrona - San Pedro Alejandrino’, constituted by the communes: (commune 1) María Eugenia - Pando, (commune 6), Mamatoco - November 11, and (commune 9) Parque - Bureche, and the districts of Bonda, and Guachaca.

Locality II: ‘Historical- Rodrigo de Bastites’, made up of communes: (commune 2) Central, (commune 3) Pescaíto - Almendro - Juan XXIII, (commune 4) Polysport - El Jardín, (commune 5) Santa Fe - Bastites, and the town of Taganga;

and Locality III: ‘Tourism-Pearl of the Caribe’, composed of the communes (Comuna 7) Gaira - Rodadero, (Comuna 8) Colorados - Don Jaca and the district of Minca.

The above territorial segmentation was determined in Agreement 009 of 17 July 2015, which also stipulates the number of members of the Local Administrative Boards, JAL, co-administering mayors' management, i.e., performing similar functions to those of the Council of Santa Marta, but in a local setting. The administrative structure of the localities of Santa Marta, depends on the district mayor, followed by the Secretariat of Government and the Office of Community Participation.

The rural area is composed of the towns of Bonda, Guachaca, Minca, Taganga and Indigenous Reserve (Ciudad Lodida or Teyuna), among which are the sidewalks of Tigrera, Cabañas de Buritaca, Cañaveral (Agua Fría), Colinas de Calabazo, Curvalito, Guacoche, Calabazo, Marquetaceus alia, Paz del Caribe, Perico Aguao, La Olla, La Revuelta, Las Colinas, El Trompo, La Aguacatera, Machete Pelao, Mexico, Valle de Gaira, Playa Blanca, La Planta, La Lisa, El Curval, El Campano and San Lorenzo.

Satellite view of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

The average height of the city is 2 meters. However, in the territory of the municipality the height rises to 5775 m in the Pico Cristóbal Colón, which is the highest in all of Colombia. ​ this is located in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

The center of the city is located on the edge of the Santa Marta bay above the Caribbean Sea, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the department of Magdalena. It stretches from the tip of Benin, opposite the island of El Morro, to the north, to Gaira point, to the south of the colonial zone. ​

Satellite view of Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta.

Although Punta Betín is now integrated into the Port of Santa Marta, in the past it has hosted important places in the history of the city's Northern Quarter, such as the beaches of Taganguilla, Ancón and Anconcito. ​

Although there are some informal dwellings in the rocky hills that make up the tip of Benin, the traditional historical center is organized from the central beach, which stretches from the port of the city to the mouth of the Manzanares River, south of the bay. ​ In Central Beach the slope of the platform is very smooth and has a turtle grass meadow on the so-called Poveda bank. ​

Comuna 7 stretches along the coast to Simón Bolívar International Airport. From south to north, this includes Ziruma Hill, where you will find Gaira Point, Playa Blanca, Calderón Beach and Cabeza de Negro tip. In turn, they include the cove of Gaira, where the spa of El Rodadero is located, the mouth of the river Gaira, the beach sector of Salguero, near tip Gloria. ​

Commune 8, for its part, includes the beaches of Pozos Colorados and the Don Jaca sector, which correspond to about half of the Samario coast.

Climate

The average temperature is 30 degrees, and the average minimum temperature is 27 °C. A semi-arid climate predominates in its urban part, and because of the difference in the city's topography, all the thermal floors are given, and several types of vegetation, like tropical and dry humid just a few kilometers from each other in the area that comprises this mountainous massif, resulting in the city with the most biodiversity in the world.

The main months of rain are June, July, September and October, and the driest are from December to April. The precipitation is 500 mm per year.

Santa Marta during rainy days

Average climate parameters of Simón Bolívar Airport (1971-2000)
Month	Jan.	Feb.	Sea.	Apr.	May.	Jun.	July.	Aug.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. Aps. (°C)	37.0	38.2	37.0	37.6	37.4	37.4	37.8	37.4	37.2	36.2	38.2	37.6	38.2
Temp. max. mean (°C)	32.9	33.5	33.7	33.5	32.8	32.6	32.8	12.5	32.0	31.6	31.8	32.2	32.7
Temp. mean (°C)	27.1	27.7	28.2	28.8	28.9	28.9	28.7	28.4	28.0	27.7	27.7	27.3	28.1
Temp. min. mean (°C)	21.7	22.8	23.8	24.9	25.1	24.7	24.1	24.1	23.9	23.7	23.3	22.1	23.7
Temp. min. Aps. (°C)	17.4	18.3	20.0	19.0	18.0	19.0	18.0	18.0	17.0	17.0	17.0	18.0	17.0
Rains (mm)	4	3	2	9	51	60	57	55	88	111	47	13	500
Rainy days (≥ 1 mm)	0	3	3	2	7	9	9	12	14	13	7	2	77
Sun Hours	285	248	253	231	225	229	235	426	205	213	230	273	2,853
Relative humidity (%)	73	72	70	72	76	76	76	77	79	80	78	75	75.3
Source: Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) ​

Hydrography

The River Manzanares as it passed Comuna 4.

The city is crossed by the Manzanares and Gaira rivers, which originate in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and end in the Bay of Santa Marta on the beaches popularly known as Los cocos, and puerto Gaira, respectively. Also in its origin and first section of the Manzanares River is called the Bonda River whose water is suitable for bathers.

As it flows into the urban area, after passing through Mamatoco the river continues its course near the fifth of San Pedro Alejandrino, the neighborhoods that border the southern part of Rio Avenue and by the time it enters 30th Street, it has already received the waters of the Tamaca Gorge, finally in the last part of its journey through the neighborhood of the same name.

Once a clean water source for the first settlers, the Manzanares is now an icon in the city of environmental imbalance due to the erosion of its riverbank and pollution. ​

El Gaira is located in the lower part of Gaira-Rodadero commune in the south. On the upper level, it runs through the village of Minca, where the Minca River is also located.

Other samarium rivers are Piedras, Guachaca, Mendihuaca, Buritaca, Don Diego, and Palomino, which act as a natural boundary with the department of La Guajira, to the east and south by the Toribio and Córdoba rivers which act as a natural boundary in its last section with the municipality of Ciénaga. ​

El Morro is located in the heart of Santa Marta Bay.

El Morro

The island of Morro, considered sacred for the ethnic groups that inhabit the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, is about 65 meters high. It originated due to the erosion of the mountains immersed in the sea.

According to historians of the city, Morro was a fundamental part of the city's history since its founding, since the conquistadores saw it as a reference point for the town of Santa Marta. It was used in defense of pirate attacks when the Morro fort was built on it.

This is how Samario historian Arturo Bermúdez Bermúdez documented in his book Piratas en Santa Marta:

"In 1739, Governor Juan Vera placed two batteries in his nose, one with 10" and 12" guns, and the other with 4 medium cannons. In 1743, Governor Juan Aristegui and Avilés built a battery and a trench on the nose. Later, Governor Gregorio Rosales Troncoso, following the plans of Don Antonio Arévalo, built the fort del Morro with a high battery to the south. Engineer Agustín Crame also worked at Fort del Morro. This fort has had remarkable events in independence and in the Republic."

Today the Morro is a tourist site of the city, it has a lighthouse, one of the few existing, belonging to the port captaincy.

According to the 2005 DANE general census, the total population of Santa Marta is 415,270, distributed among the population as shown in the table. ​ Although the District Development Plan 2004-2007 for the year 2003 had an estimated population of 423,000 ​ recently, according to the National Planning Authority, Santa Marta has a population close to 470,000 in 2011. ​

According to the figures presented by the DANE of the 2005 census, whites and mestizos make up 91.4 percent of the population, mulats make up 7.6 percent, and indigenous people make up 1 percent.

Eastern coast of Bolivar Park. In the foreground, the Fountain of the Four Faces. At the bottom, the Bank Building.

Santa Marta's economy is based on tourism, trade, port activity, fisheries and agriculture, in the same order. ​ The District maintains agricultural production of 16 053 tons, cultivated in an area of 44 051 hectares. The main agricultural products are: banana, coffee, cocoa, fruit and cassava.

Tourism

Santa Marta has been known as La Perla de América since Father Antonio Julian gave her that name in the 18th century. Its current slogan of tourism promotion is The Magic of Having It All.​ In addition to several beaches and sites of historical value, it has the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which has archeological sites like Buritaca, located between 900 and 1200 meters.

El Rodadero Spa.

In the south, separated from Santa Marta Bay by Ziruma Hill is El Rodadero beach. It occupies a privileged position in the cove of Gaira and is the most socio-economic area of the commune of Gaira - Rodadero. The beach is located 3 miles south of the center of Santa Marta and connected to it by Hernández Pardo Avenue.

To the north, behind the hills of Pescaíto, you will find the seaside resort of Taganga. This in turn is used as a port of departure for Parque Tayrona, a forest reserve located 34 km from the city with heights from sea level to 900 m. To the west of the park, at kilometer 56 via Riohacha, is a small river, Valencia, a series of high-altitude waterfalls and wells (natural pools). It is considered a natural reserve and has a wide variety of fauna and flora. ​

Pre-Columbian terraces in the hills of Ciudad Lodida.

In Plaza de Bolívar, next to the seawall, is Casa de la Aduana, where Simón Bolívar's body rested on a burning chamber. It is currently the site of the Tayrona Gold Museum of the Bank of the Republic.

The city also has several cultural sites. These include the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, the 17th-century hacienda where Simón Bolívar spent his last days and died on December 17, 1830, and the Basilica Cathedral of Santa Marta, built in the 1760s and the first in church jurisdiction in South America. ​ This temple houses a small box containing the heart and guts of Simón Bolívar. The remains of the founder of Santa Marta, Rodrigo de Bastites, are also found here. ​

Also at the end of the 18th century, the construction of the Claustro San Juan Nepomuceno, which was opened almost half a century later in 1811. ​ this one is located on the corner of Calle Grande (17th Street) with the alley of the Seminario (Race 2) and has hosted various institutions, such as the Real Seminario Conciliar. Of 1745, it is the Customs House that has survived fires, earthquakes and looting of pirates.

Taganga

For its part, the Old Hospital San Juan de Dios is an Art Deco-style building built in the mid-20th century and declared a national monument on April 16, 1999 ​ Today it houses the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Magdalena.

In turn, Madame Agustine's House is located on the corner of Calle Real or Calle Grande (17th Street), with the Royal alley or the street of Don Pedro Salas (race 4) in the historic center of the city, this mansion is a colonial jewel built in 1745. It was lived in an elegant French lady called "Madame Agustine".

Since its renovation in 2008, ​ the park of Los Novios has become one of the gastronomic and tourist centers of the city. ​ ​ In addition to hosting centuries-old buildings with heritage value such as the Palace of Justice and the Old Fourth School, this park has important bars and clubs today.

Santa Marta is a port of importance to the country, due to its geographical location, because it has a natural frame that benefits the passage and boarding of the ships, as well as being the deepest port of the American continent and one of the safest in the world. Therefore, many commercial vessels arrive in the city, which contributes to the economy of the region. The Port Society of Santa Marta is the organization in charge of the ports.

Since 2007, work has been carried out to adapt and reconstruct the historic center of the city and infrastructure in the port with a view to confronting the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the United States.

Terrestrial

To reach the city, the main road is Troncal del Caribe road to the north-west, connecting Riohacha (165 km) and to the south-west, to Barranquilla (93 km), Cartagena (209 km); it also communicates through the Troncal del Magdalena with the capitals of the departments and numerous cities in the interior of the country, including the capital Bogotá. The city has a ground transportation terminal that serves both the city and neighboring municipalities in the service of interdepartmental buses.

Public transport bus on Santa Rita Avenue.

Within the city we can highlight the road network provided by Avenida del Libertador, Avenida del Río and Avenida Santa Rita (22nd Street) which basically go from east to west; the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 19th, Hernández Pardo Avenue, heading towards Rodadero and Rail Avenue, in the North-South direction. There are several companies responsible for public transport.

Taxi in the historic center.

Public service taxis are identified as yellow, for these a minimum race costs about $5,000, and can be made more expensive if the race goes somewhere on the periphery. There are also intermunicipal 'door-to-door' taxi services. From 2008 onwards, taxis are required to have a price list for all destinations within and outside the city perimeter.

There are currently restrictions on movement in the District of Santa Marta. For private automobiles, it restricts movement and transit in the Historical Center between seven in the morning and seven in the evening according to the last number of the license plate. For motorcycle vehicles, it restricts its circulation and transit throughout the District at 07:00 a.m. and 07:00 p.m. according to the last number of plates. Restrict the circulation of motorcycle, motorcycle, motorcycle, motorcycle and four-wheel vehicles throughout the District in the 20th of each month. In addition, for drivers of private vehicles, motorcycles and public service transport, certain restrictions are imposed on the movement in the Historical Center. ​

Air

Simón Bolívar International Airport is located at the front of the hotel.

The Simón Bolívar International Airport (IATA: SMR, ICAO: SKSM). The terminal receives flights from Bogotá, Medellin and Cali, these routes are operated by the airlines Avianca, LATAM Colombia and Viva Air Colombia. The airport was released on concession in 2011, and hopes to receive an investment of $26 million, among the modernization plans is the expansion of the runway from 1700 m to 2200 m, and the width of the runway from 30 m to 40 m.

Maritime

Offices of the Port Society of Santa Marta.

The Port Society of Santa Marta, which started operations in 1993, is a mixed economy company founded by 60 companies, including banana, shipping, Magdalena department, Santa Marta district and other businessmen. He is currently the port operator of the city with the permission of the Port Superintendent.

Containers and cranes at the Port.

The Port Society of Santa Marta has docks in Santa Marta Bay that operate 24 hours a day every day of the year. It has a train service and the possibility to carry out direct loads and downloads on the docks. The harbor is located at the northwestern end of the city, framed to the north by the hills of Saint-Martin and to the west by the hill Ancón and the cove of Tanganilla. ​ In Gaira Bay, the Zulia pipeline, which has a monoboya oil pier, ends.

In 2018, the port movement in the Santa Marta Port Zone was 104,611 TEU, ranking 62nd on the Latin American and Caribbean port activity list. ​

Fearless

The train was a major player in the external trade and thus the development of the Samaria economy between 1892 and 1988. A decade later, it was decided to reactivate the use of this means of transport, which resulted in the provision of freight transport services to different users. Rail transport has been consolidated in northern Colombia as one of the safest and most efficient means. Its importance for the country's competitiveness in the field of globalization is of such magnitude that the national Government decides to expand the capacity of the line between the sections of Chiriguana and the Port of Santa Marta.

As of 2017, the line between Santa Marta and La Dorada will become operational again, Santa Marta being the pioneer of railway transport in the country. This same line is planned to operate for passenger and cargo trains. ^{[Appointment Required]}

Entrance of the Celedon Liceo.

Santa Marta schools include both public and private primary and secondary schools. Magdalena University is the only public. Founded in 1958, it is the largest university in the department and one of the best universities in the Caribbean region of Colombia. ​ the private ones are the Sergio Arboleda, the Autonoma, the Tadeo Lozano, the Cooperative and the National Unified Corporation of Higher Education (CUN).

There are also UNAD, University of the North and Remington University Corporation headquarters which do not have university campuses, but rather small post-graduate sites such as the University of the North and some undergraduates and postgraduates like the other above-mentioned universities. There is also a library headquarters at the Bank of the Republic.

As for language institutes, the city has the headquarters of the Colombo-American and the Alliance Française. The city also has two headquarters of the SENA Industrial (on Avenida Ferrocarril) and SENA Agropecuario (in Gaira).

Madame Agustine's house in the historic center.

Banco de la República Library in Simón Bolívar Park.

Santa Marta has the Luis Ángel Arango libraries of the Banco de la República, the Cajamag, the Elisa Fernández Nieves (in Gaira), the Seine and the Invemar libraries. ​

Among its museums are the Bolivarian Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened in 1986 and is located in the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, ​ which has more than 200 works, and the Musee del Oro y Casa de la Aduana, located in Plaza de Bolívar, which was declared a National Monument in 1974. the University of Magdalena opened in December 2005 with three rooms dedicated to the stories, places and everyday life of the different social groups that inhabit the region. ​

The Aquarium Museo del Mar is a short boat ride from El Rodadero. It exhibits turtles, sharks, sachets, corals, dolphins and seals. ​

The annual International Festival of Caribbean Theater, which includes some free events of a pedagogical and/or entertainment character, is held. In 2012, he held his 23rd edition with participants from Spain, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and Argentina. ​

Santa Marta, in turn, is the birthplace of singer Carlos Vives.

One of the typical dishes is cayeye, which originates in the banana area of the department in the municipalities of Ciénaga, Zona Bananera, Santa Marta, Fundación, Aracataca. ​ consists of green guineans cooked and then crushed, accompanied by grated coastal cheese, butter and milk. Many people also mix it with a typical local chicharron or stew.

Crossing 7 A Street with 4 A Race in El Rodadero.

El Castillo, an old hotel on the pier.

Building of the Technical Industrial Institute.

Façades in Northern neighborhood.

In the main headboard, the map in grid dominates, adopted from Roman architecture by the Spanish and subsequently imposed in Ibero-America, as is the case of Basilica Cathedral of Santa Marta. This sector retains several buildings but its colonial character has virtually disappeared. There are still a few rare buildings, most of them from the Republican period, but many others have been replaced by modern buildings.

The cathedral with an architectural sense that makes it unique at the Latin American level and in whose interior the remains of Rodrigo de Bastites, its founder, still rest. It is also located on the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino hacienda where Simón Bolívar, the Casa de la Aduana or Claustro San Juan of Nepomuceno died. Equally worth mentioning are the buildings of the Celedon Lyceum and the Technical Industrial Institute, declared in 1993 national monuments.

Santa Marta has residential neighborhoods in areas not specifically located, mainly next to and on the side of the avenue that leads to the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, and other centers.

Various sculptural works show the indigenous culture and those dedicated to proceres are also sites of tourist attraction. Among these stands the Rodrigo statue of Bastites standing on the camellón or promenade located on the beach of Santa Marta Bay, the Tribute to Ethnic Tayrona located in a small roundabout in the first race with 22nd Street.

The gastronomy of Santa Marta has been created around factors such as its location over the Caribbean Sea, the variety of climates of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the cultural mix of Europeans and indigenous people. Fish and seafood are common. For example, in Taganga, a small fishing village, you can find several restaurants offering seafood-based dishes.

Given these conditions, the food with which an outsider could find himself would be dishes based on seafood, coconut rice, cooked or with meat from the livestock municipalities of Magdalena. Moreover, the daily food of the samarium is based on preparations made with green (unripened banana) guineo, whether it is this cooked to make the cayeye, or fried in slices and any of its variants; cassava cooked with cheese and butter or prepared in buns; rice and fish soups; or as in the rest of the country, corn flour is used to make arepas, empanadas and buns (wrapped).

Statue of Pibe Valderrama at Eduardo Santos Stadium.

Sierra Nevada Stadium, headquarters of the Union Magdalena.

Olympic pool used in 2017 for the 18th Bolivarian Games. Now it's used for swimming practice.

Football is the dominant sport. The local team is Union Magdalena, dubbed Cyclone Bananero. Founded in 1951, he was the first team on the Caribbean Coast to win the Colombian professional football tournament in 1968 and the first to go to the Copa Libertadores de América in 1969. He currently plays in Category First A. He played at Eduardo Santos Stadium until it was closed in 2013. 17, the new stadium was inaugurated in the Sierra Nevada Stadium. ​ Since February 25, 2018, the Union Magdalena has been playing local in the Sierra Nevada. ​ In 2018, the samarium team was runner-up of the First B championship, so in 2019 they will be contesting the tournament of Category First A.

His first descent occurred in 1999, he rose again thanks to the 2001 promotion triangular, for the 2005 season he loses his status again and has played the First B tournament ever since. Today the club is debated between his support or disappearance due to financial problems that afflict him as he does not have supportive investors. ​ He is recognized as the city of birth of three great Colombian footballers, such as Carlos Valderrama, Anthony de Ávila and Radamel Falcao García.

In other sports, the football team Gremio Samario, playing in the Liga Argos of the specialty, stands out professionally.

Twinning cities is a concept whereby towns or cities from different geographical and political areas are paired together to foster human contact and cultural links. Santa Marta received a twinning agreement with Miami Beach (United States) ​ and another with Bucaramanga in 2010. ​

•   Miami Beach, United States.
•   Bucaramanga, Colombia.

• Territorial organization of Colombia
• Rodrigo de Bastide
• Department of Santa Marta
• Santa Marta metropolitan area