San Pedro Claver

For dinner on Saturday night we were seated at an outdoor table, right across from the San Pedro Claver Church and Monastery. As we sat down, a wedding was beginning. The bride arrived in a horse-drawn carriage. I really need to work on my photography skills, since this is the best picture I was able to get:

Here are a few more pictures from when it was still light out:

From here you can see the top of the church

The front entrance

The Church was constructed in the 17th century by the Jesuits and is named after Saint Pedro Claver, who is buried within the altar. Born in 1580 in Spain, Claver began his Jesuit studies in 1602 and was granted permission to sail to the New World as a missionary in 1610. He landed in Cartagena and after being ordained a priest several years later, he devoted himself to serving the slaves coming into port.

By that time, the slave trade was booming. After enduring abhorrent conditions on the boat ride from Africa, surviving slaves were unloaded into the main plaza and sold. Claver would board the ships upon their arrival, caring for the sick and offering food if he could. Once the slaves were sold, he would visit them at their plantations and advocate that they be treated humanely. It is said that he single-handedly baptized over 300,000 slaves.

He was canonized in 1888 and is the patron saint of missionary work among black slaves (as well as a patron saint of Colombia). His feast day is September 9th.
  
Fun Fact: According to the CIA World Factbook, about 90% of Colombians identify themselves as Catholic.