The hotel advertising (at that time) could read: "It has a hundred spacious rooms, all exterior, fitted with all the advances of hygiene and comfort so far known in the best hotels in Europe and America."
Cartagena, besides by Carthaginians and Romans remains, is known for its Art Nouveau or Modernist buildings. This year, taking advantage of the centenary of the Grand Hotel, it is celebrating the "Year of Modernism".
Why are there so many Modernists buildings in Cartagena? "The historic center of Cartagena was seriously destroyed by the bombing of centralist troops during the cantonal revolution of 1873. It begins after this date the task of rebuilding the city. Match the end of the nineteenth century with an extraordinary boom in the exploitation of the Sierra mining Cartagena-La Union and origining, as a result of this activity, a powerful wealthy and willing bourgeoisie to show its strength and economic power through the architecture.
The city will be the subject of a profound change under the new urban and architectural ideas in vogue. The current configuration of the old town of Cartagena owes its appearance at this time: palaces, houses of the bourgeoisie, a new city hall, a railway station, factories and schools were erected in the new modernist style, with models that fundamentally inspired in the Catalan modernism.
In parallel, it was born the city of La Union, linked to the exploitation of mines, and keeping some important works of modernism in the Region of Murcia." (Source: Wikipedia)
Now this building is an office building.
What beautiful architecture!
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