The casa Cervantes

In the calle Mayor are the casa Cervantes and the Casa Llagostera, both by Victor Beltri, a famous local architect that made a decisive contribution to modernism in the region.

The casa Cervantes, one of the earliest examples of its kind in Cartagena, shows modernist bay windows and ironwork, as well as an allegorical relief about mining and maritime Cartagena and of Mars and Minerva.

The second house shows a fully tilled façade also with mythological references.

However perhaps the best symbol of Modernism in the city is the Gran Hotel in San Sebastian square, by Tomás Rico and then Victor Beltri, who finished the project after the death of the former in 1907. Its particularly remarkable height is accompanied by an overloaded exterior ornamentation, again with a wealth of garlands and motifs copied from nature.

Of all public buildings of that time, we have to give the railway station a mention, with its large doorway, dominated by a triple arcade, topped by a glass roof and a large window with ceramic decorative elements.