Something I’ve always felt goes underrepresented about Colombia is its large Afro-Colombian population, legacy of slavery, and, probably most importantly, the cultural contributions of Afro-Colombians, especially to the Caribbean Coast and Cartagena.

An excellent way to learn a bit more about all of those things is a visit to the Town of San Basilio de Palenque, sometimes also called Palenque de San Basilio or often simply just called Palenque or Palenke.

This town was a colony of runaway slaves, so successful in its resistance that it was officially recognized by the Spanish crown as a free city, the first town to receive such a designation in the Americas.

You might recognize the women in colorful dresses selling fruit that have become one of the most famous photos in Cartagena. They are known as Palenqueras and their origin were women traveling into the city to sell fruit from the town. Nowadays many don’t commute, and well, really, I have my suspicions if they are all still from Palenque, but they are a representation of the town.

Improved security, increased tourism in the country more broadly, and an increased awareness of black contribution to Colombia’s history has helped turn the town itself into a frequently visited tourist destination in recent years.

I visited Palenque several years back during the annual music festival and got to tour the community that morning with Susana and some friends. I was especially impressed by the strong sense of community and desire to preserve its traditions.

It’s absolutely worth a day trip from Cartagena!

If you’d like to visit it yourself or just learn more about it, read on to learn a bit about the history of San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia and how to visit this fascinating town yourself.

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San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia Guide – Contents

• Where is San Basilio de Palenque in Colombia?
• History of San Basilio de Palenque (including what’s a palenque?)
• Planning Your Visit to San Basilio de Palenque
• How to Learn More

If you’d prefer to learn the story of Palenque yourself through a visit, please do consider booking a private tour with my partner travel Agency BnB Colombia Tours. You can get a discount by using the code ExploreColombia10 when you book at this link.

If you’re interested in a multi-day fully tailored travel experience, fill out this form, and one of their agents will contact you about planning a custom trip to Cartagena and beyond that includes a day trip to Palenque and so much more.

Other options for visiting Palenque include this private tour via GetYourGuide or the highly regarded Palenque Freedom Tour via Viator.

Where is San Basilio de Palenque in Colombia?

Located a little over 30 miles southeast of Cartagena, San Basilio de Palenque can be reached in under 2 hours with favorable traffic.

The town is located on the edge of the region known as the Montes de Maria (best translated as the Hills of Maria). This area is sometimes also referred to as the South of Bolívar (Sur de Bolívar) for its location in the south of the Bolívar province of which Cartagena is the capital.

This area of fertile hills and forests was one of the regions heavily affected by Colombia’s internal conflict due to the richness of the countryside, conflict over the land, and its location as a corridor for drug trafficking. The small town of El Salado further south from Palenque was the site of one of the most notorious massacres in the history of the conflict where right-wing militaries literally played soccer with the heads of townspeople they murdered.

Luckily, Palenque itself was spared from massacres like the one at El Salado with the worse of the violence in the region in small towns like El Salada around the town of El Carmen del Bolívar to the south. Still many of the towns residents were subject to extortion and ever-looming threats of violence from armed groups operating in the region.

Even today, it’s easy to see the legacy of state neglect, and as recently as 2021, a community leader was murdered.

Is it safe to visit San Basilio de Palenque?

All of this begs the obvious question of if it’s safe to visit Palenque today.

I would say yes, it is quite safe…

With the caveat you go with an organized tour.

Those that speak strong Spanish and can drive with the aggressive Colombian drivers would probably be ok going on their own, but you’ll get more out of a guided tour anyway, and you can be extra sure you’re safe.

Now, the larger reality is there is always the possibility of a return to violence in this region, and there is evidence that the remnants of the former AUC, the group responsible for much of the violence in the area, are active as the group known as the AGC, Gaitanitas, Clan Golfo in the region.

However, armed groups in Colombia have not had an MO of targeting tourists for the most part and if anything they are usually more interested in taking land, resources, and forcing locals to pay them for “protection.”

The bet the government has made on tourism as a source of economic growth in the country more broadly also means areas like this, even if they are more “off the beaten track” are generally kept safe.

Now, I wouldn’t go wandering off through the fields on my own, but you should feel safe visiting Palenque as part of a tour barring a drastic change in the current situation.

A Brief History of Palenque

Of course San Basilio de Palenque is most famous for is its designation as the “first free town in the Americas.”

I actually take issue with that moniker, because it most certainly wasn’t the first settlement of runaway slaves, sometimes called maroons in English or cimarrones in Spanish, in the Americas, or even in this region of Colombia.

However, there is an element of truth to it too.

First, though let’s define what palenque means.

Palenque Meaning

You may have heard this town called simply Palenque, or maybe Palenke and noticed I’ve mostly been referring to it as San Basilio de Palenque.

Or, maybe you’ve heard of a Palenque in Mexico too. There are, in fact, ruins of a Mayan town known as Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico.

But, just what does palenque mean?

Or, better yet, what is a palenque?

The best palenque definition or palenque translation to English I can find is “walled city” or “fortified place.”

Colonies of runaway slaves were often referred to as palenques in the Spanish speaking Americas because they often used wooden walls to protect them. They were under constant threat of destruction and recapture by Spanish colonial authorities.

So, that’s part of the reason the town is named San Basilio de Palenque.

Really, I guess the Palenque de San Basilio is probably a more appropriate name for this one particular community, but it’s more common to see San Basilio de Palenque or simply Palenque.

Palenque’s Founding and Achievement of Free Status

The truth is researching for this post, I went down quite a rabbit hole the History major in me couldn’t resist.

Down that rabbit hole, I learned a lot of what I thought about Palenque might not be entirely true. It turns out a lot of the most commonly told history of Palenque is possibly more mythology than fact.

The history of Palenque you’ll most likely find elsewhere online or even from guides is that it was founded by a runaway slave from Cartagena named Benkos Biohó. The town so successfully defended itself from Spanish attempt to destroy it that the Spanish crown granted them their independence.

What I found in digging a bit deeper is that Biohó did escape slavery in Cartagena, did found a free town, and did lead efforts to fight the Spanish and free more slaves.

However, he probably did not found what would become San Basilio de Palenque, which was mostly likely founded a bit later, was destroyed, and then resettled.

However, the governor of Cartagena did negotiate with the residents, granting them amnesty and ultimately free status in 1714. It’s likely that free peoples in other nearby communities moved here in subsequent years. Census reports from 1777 indicate that just over 600 people lived there by then.

The statue to Biohó and the legends of him founding the town likely emerged as a unifying myth that paid homage to a key figure in the struggle for freedom of countless smaller palenques that was finally realized here. San Basilio quite correctly can be seen as his legacy and the goal for which he gave his life when he was killed by the Spanish.

Preservation of Tradition and Identity

Due to its relative isolation and semi-autonomous status, the residents long kept alive many traditions that can be traced to their African roots, including religious and cultural practices.

I find it truly fascinating that groups of people seized from their different homelands found ways to collectively preserve and likely mix, mold, and blend their traditions into something that carried on the legacy of their ancestors but also became its own unique cultural space. It’s even more impressive they have maintained these traditions and resisted complete assimilation for over 300 years.

As noted above, the impact of Colombia’s 20th century conflict was not as sharp here as elsewhere but nonetheless impactful.

This impact along with the desires for better opportunities and just young people being young people led many younger palenqueros to leave or want to leave the town in the last couple decades for Cartagena or elsewhere in Colombia or abroad.

As our guide explained when we toured the town, this led to a decline in some of the cultural traditions as the younger generations were just less interested in them, seeing them as relics of their grandparents.

Luckily, a growing interest in those traditions from academics and tourists helped rekindle awareness of the need to preserve them. Those efforts helped it achieve recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, bringing the town more recognition and publicity.

That, along with the increased opportunity to highlight them that tourism brings, has led to better preservation.

I have to be honest, when I arrived to Cartagena in 2011, it was still pretty rare to hear of people going to Palenque. However, especially over the last few years, it has become one of the top recommendations for things to see in Cartagena, and is without a doubt one of the most popular day trips from Cartagena.

While tourism always brings its own unique set of challenges to any community, I’d say it’s overall a positive development.

Culturally Significant Things You Can See in Palenque

One of the most interesting cultural peculiarities of San Basilio is the language. While nearly everyone here also speaks Spanish, many still speak this unique language, and the increased desire to preserve it has led to more young people learning it to preserve into the future.

Known simply as Palenquero, it is the only known existing creole language that mixes Spanish and traditional African languages. The language appears to have been strongly influenced by the Kikongo language of present day Congo and Angola but likely also draws influence from other Bantu languages.

It may have been widely spoken in the region by other runaway slaves and freed people at one point, but this is the only place it survived, and it is the only language of its kind to have survived in Spain’s former colonies in the Americas.

There was a fear the language was dying out as less young people spoke it and more village elders passed on.

However, recent efforts have been made to produce dictionaries and revive the language among the younger generations as a source of pride rather than a quirky part of of their hometown. There’s a good article about the language and the previous fears it would be lost in this 2007 NY Times article.

Another practice I thought was neat is the youth groups known as kuagros.

All youth are members of a kuagro almost as if it was a clan or gang, where the older members mentor and look after the younger members. They might play sports, study, or complete community service projects together.

I also thought the unique justice system in the town was interesting.

Our guide explained that for minor, misdemeanor type offenses, a council of village elders decides the punishment or actions the offender must undertake. For more serious offenses, the normal Colombian justice system is employed, but I thought this was a unique form of community organization. There were even special policeman in the community.

There are also many elaborate medicinal, shamanistic, and funeral rituals that can be traced back to Africa practiced in the community. We did visit the home of a medicine woman during our tour who offered to cure any ailments or bless us.

For such a small town (it has less than 4,000 residents), it’s also produced quite a few famous people.

Antonio “Kid Pambelé” Cervantes was a two-time world junior welterweight champion. You can find a statue of him by the gym today.

Evaristo Márquez was an actor who acted with Marlon Brando in the movie Burn! in 1969.

There is also a rich musical tradition. Drum making is still a small cottage industry in the town.

Some claim Champeta music was invented here, although it more likely emerged from the barrios of Cartagena then made its way here where local artists then influenced the music’s development.

There are several well known Champeta artists from Palenque, among them Charles King. There’s a cool interview with him that has some slices of his music and shots of Palenque as well as some good nuggets on the history of Champeta in this video. His song La Cucharita always makes me chuckle (see if you can figure out the meaning!).

The town’s musical legacy is celebrated in the annual Festival de Tambores (Drum Festival) held in October. We visited during this event. We toured the town in the day then got to enjoy the music in the evening. It was a lot of fun, and artists from all over the world come to play. The town’s main square fills up with visitors from all over as well.

We only went for one day and night before heading back to Cartagena after the performances, but it’s a multi-day event. If you happen to be in Cartagena in October, you should consider checking it out. I can’t find an official website, but you can check out their Facebook and Instagram for more info.

Oh, and yes, of course, the Palenqueras, their colorful dresses, and tasty fruit are also one of the legacies of Palenque!

Planning a Visit to Palenque from Cartagena

As noted above, due to the town’s isolation and relatively minimal but possible safety concerns, I’d recommend going to Palenque as part of an organized tour group.

You should plan on it being an all day affair as a day trip from Cartagena to get the most out of the trip and just in case traffic makes the trip take longer than expected.

It’s become more and more popular every year, so you should have no problem finding an operator.

Tours vary a little, but they generally include a walking tour of the community with a local guide who will tell you about its history and unique cultural practices. You may visit the home of a shaman or learn about burial rituals by the cemetery. You’ll almost certainly learn a few words in palenquero, and you’ll most likely get a mini-drum and/or dancing lesson. You’ll likely get to see the mini-recording studio and Champeta music hall in town too.

Oh, and you should get a tasty and fresh traditional lunch too!

There’s also lots of neat murals and art for photos.

As noted above, if you’d like a private tour for you and your group, my partner travel agency BnB Colombia Tours can set one up for you. They work with local and reliable bilingual guides in Cartagena and Palenque. You can get a discount with the code ExploreColombia10 if you book at this link.

You can also book the popular Palenque Freedom Tour on Viator or a Palenque Tour on GetYourGuide, both of which are also private. I’ve also heard good things about the tours organized by Experience the Real Cartagena.

I would definitely recommend taking along plenty of water and sunscreen. Not to mention those dancing shoes!

Interested in learning more about Palenque’s history?

A few of the sources I used to help me put together this article include this article on JStor about the town’s general history, which mentions the differing narratives of its founding that are discussed in more depth in this article in Spanish. That article heavily references this book that I’d like to get my hands on sometime.

If you’re interested in the history of racial dynamics in Colombia’s Caribbean, Liberty and Equality in Caribbean Colombia 1777-1835 is an interesting read (read my review here). Also, this book titled Myths of Harmony looks very interesting and has also now been added to my list of books I’d like to get around to reading one day. Finally, No Limits to their Sway, about Cartagena’s independence era privateers, many of which were former slaves from Haiti and elsewhere in the Caribbean is my favorite book on Cartagena’s history (read my review here).

And, I do have two more general history posts on Cartagena. There’s a long version and a short version.

Did you like this post?

You might also be interested in the Footprints of the Jaguar hike and music workshop in nearby San Jacinto, also in the Montes de María. You can also learn a lot more about Cartagena’s general history at the Naval Museum and the Inquisition and Historical Museum. Also, the Castillo San Felipe Fort is all but a must in Cartagena, and history buffs will also appreciate the forts at Bocachica, some of Cartagena’s best hidden gems.