<P> The story occurs mainly in an unnamed port city somewhere near the Caribbean Sea and the Magdalena River . Given that Rafael Núñez is mentioned as the `` author of the national anthem '' , the country is likely Colombia . While the city remains unnamed throughout the novel , descriptions and names of places suggest it is based on Cartagena with the addition of the Magdalena River , which meets the sea at the nearby city of Barranquilla . The fictional city is divided into such sections as `` The District of the Viceroys '' and `` The Arcade of the Scribes . '' The novel takes place approximately during the half century between 1880 and 1930 . The city 's `` steamy and sleepy streets , rat - infested sewers , old slave quarter , decaying colonial architecture , and multifarious inhabitants '' are mentioned variously in the text and mingle amid the lives of the characters . Locations within the story include : </P>
where does love in time of cholera take place
an unnamed port city somewhere near the Caribbean Sea and the Magdalena River