Wednesday, March 7, 2012

WHEELING BEHIND THE WALLS OF CARTAGENA -- PART 7


THE FINEST SPANISH COLONIAL CITY ON EARTH 


A short walk and roll from the Catedral de Cartagena sits an attraction that is both intriguing and repellant, and certainly not for the faint of heart. 

The Palacio de la Inquisicion documents the machinations of the Spanish Inquisition. 

During the Spanish colonial period, the organization’s sinister tentacles stretched across the Atlantic to the Americas, where it continued its dastardly quest to root out heretics and others deemed undesirable.

Although this accessible attraction is small, it packs a wallop with its recreation of torture devices used to extract confessions.

A double-edged spiked collar allowed the wearer to speak in no more than a whisper to communicate his offenses. 

A thumb-crushing device inflicted incredible pain.

The stretching table or rack could literally tear one limb from limb.

Paintings on the walls show tortured souls begging for mercy.

Out in the museum’s peaceful, shady courtyard incongruously stands a gallows, complete with noose and trap. 

This simple collection gives not an impression of sensationalism, but rather an honest representation of man’s inhumanity to man. 


 STORY CONTINUES TOMORROW -- MARCH 8

 

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