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-
 lessed with
a
- superb har-
- bor, Carta-
- gena became a
- strategic strong-
- hold and center of
- trade in Spain's New
- World empire. Founded in
- 1533, it provisioned the
- ships that collected the con-
- tinentīs wealth and distrib-
- uted goods from the mother
- country to the colonies.
- Many tried to take this
- prize. Francis Drake suc-
- ceeded most dramatically
- in 1586, holding the city
- for ransom. On a Spanish
- map drawn five years later
- (right), his troops advanced
- on the city down the Boca-
- grande peninsula, where
- hotels and condominiums
- now rise (above, at top).
- With Drake's departure,
- work began on a system of
- forts and reinforced walls.
- By the time British
- Adm. Edward Vernon
- attacked in 1741, silt had
- blocked Bocagrande, the
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- Peace permitting, galleons from Spain
- called at Cartagena on their way to
- and from Portobelo, where they picked
- up riches from Peru.
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