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With the passage of time, Cartagena de Indias, became a very important port to the Spanish Crown, and the target of potential rivals that wished to take a piece of the riches that constantly filled the city.
Its deep and secure port and proximity to the Magdalena River (the main fluvial entrance to the Nuevo Reino de Granada), its proximity to Panama (where all the treasures from Peru passed), its strategic location in the middle of the Caribbean, earned it the title of City given by the King Phillip II in 1574, and later on was conceded a coat of arms with two red lions and a cross.
The next year (1575) another title would make it bigger: "Very noble and very loyal" with which the labor of the subjects from Cartagena towards the Spanish Crown was recognized. |
