Unnamed Colombian City

The main location of the book is in a port city near the Caribbean Sea and Magdalena River that has been assumed by many readers to be the city of Cartagena in Colombia. The city undergoes a transformation in the fifty years of the story due to advancements in technology and sanitation and several civil wars.

Home of Fermina and Juvenal

Juvenal and Fermina live most of their married life in the Urbino family home. Some of this time is spent living with Juvenal’s mother and two sisters. Fermina never feels quite at home in the house as she never feels like it actually belongs to her.

Hotel

Florentino spends much of his young adult life in a transient hotel owned by a friend. He uses his permanent room there to read and write letters to Fermina, ignoring the sexual presence of the many...