Wender·Vista
Santa Marta
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileColombia
on Colombia's Caribbean coast, beneath the Sierra Nevada

Santa Marta

— the oldest city, with snow behind it.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Colombia's oldest surviving city, founded in 1525 on a Caribbean bay where the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta rises almost from the water to 5,700 metres of snow. The old town is low and bright; the harbour is busy with bananas and coal. Simón Bolívar died on a hacienda just outside town in 1830.

from the studio
Santa Marta
— bring it home

Santa Marta, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Santa Marta

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Santa Marta sits on Colombia's Caribbean coast, capital of Magdalena Department, founded on 29 July 1525 by Rodrigo de Bastidas as the oldest surviving city on the South American mainland. The municipality counts roughly 500,000 residents and stretches from the colonial Centro Histórico north along the coast toward Taganga and Tayrona. Behind it the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta rises directly from the sea to 5,700 metres at Pico Cristóbal Colón, the highest coastal mountain range in the world. UNESCO designated the Sierra a Biosphere Reserve in 1979.

— informed by Wikipedia, UNESCO MAB
— the water

The Bay of Santa Marta cups the historic centre between two headlands, with El Rodadero to the south as the main beach district and the harbour itself busy with container, banana, and coal traffic. The Caribbean here stays warm through the year, averaging around 27°C, with a notable easterly wind that builds through the afternoon. North along the coast the bays of Tayrona National Natural Park, Cabo San Juan, Bahía Concha, Playa Cristal, fill in with white sand and the granite skirts of the Sierra.

— the visit

Most visitors reach Santa Marta by air through Simón Bolívar International Airport, about 16 kilometres south of the city, or by road from Cartagena along the four-hour coastal highway. The Centro Histórico clusters around Parque de los Novios and the Catedral Basílica, walkable in an evening. The Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, where Simón Bolívar died on 17 December 1830, sits on the eastern edge of the city and is open as a museum. Tayrona's main gate at El Zaino is a 45-minute drive northeast.

— informed by Wikipedia, Wikipedia
— where
Colombia · Santa Marta, Magdalena
— position
11.2408° N · 74.1990° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
20 km SE
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
mountain range
35 km NE
Tayrona National Natural Park
national park
5 km N
Taganga
fishing village
4 km S
El Rodadero
beach district
4 km E
Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino
historic hacienda
N
Santa Marta
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Tayrona National Natural Park
Taganga
El Rodadero
Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Santa Marta — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

It is the oldest continuously inhabited Spanish-founded city on the South American mainland, founded in 1525 by Rodrigo de Bastidas. Simón Bolívar died here on 17 December 1830 at the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino.

An isolated coastal massif rising from the Caribbean directly behind the city. It reaches 5,700 metres at Pico Cristóbal Colón, the highest coastal mountain range in the world, and was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1979.

The main park entrance at El Zaino is about 35 kilometres northeast of Santa Marta, a 45-minute drive along the coastal highway. The park covers around 15,000 hectares of forest, beach, and granite headland down to the Caribbean.

At the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, a sugar hacienda just east of the Santa Marta city centre. He died there on 17 December 1830, en route to a planned exile in Europe. The site is preserved as a national museum.

Spanish is the working language; English is common in tourism districts. The currency is the Colombian peso. The city operates on Colombia Time, UTC-5, with no daylight savings shift.

Hot tropical. Daytime temperatures hold near 30°C through the calendar, with sea temperatures around 27°C. The rainy season runs roughly September to November; the rest is dry, with a steady afternoon easterly off the Caribbean.

— about the piece in your home

Santa Marta carries weight for both, the country's first city, with the Sierra Nevada and Tayrona at its back. A Medium reads as a clear hometown piece; a Coaster Set works for someone returning often.

The Caribbean blues, terra-cotta roofs, and Sierra greens of the Santa Marta palette pair with coastal-modern, tropical-minimalist, and warm Latin American interiors. A single Large carries a long wall.

The Caribbean and coastal-Latin palettes have moved firmly into coastal-modern alongside Mediterranean blues. A Large or four-tile Mural reads as a focal anchor in rooms built around rattan, white linen, and pale wood.

Above a sofa, a single Large or a four-tile Mural fills the wall. Above a console, a Medium centred or a Triptych spread along the width works well; the bay and mountain pair wants horizontal room.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish, both scratch-resistant and engineered for vertical installation in humid rooms. The glossy finish belongs on framed pieces away from steam and splash.

Microfibre cloth and water. Skip abrasive pads and household cleaners with acid or bleach; the colour lives in the ceramic surface, but the thin finish prefers gentle care.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our Knoxville studio under Reid Wender's eye. Nothing is licensed from a third party, and no two pieces of the same place ship without his approval.

— if this one stayed with you

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Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.