Cádiz
Encyclopedia
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain
. It is the capital of the homonymous province
, one of eight which make up the autonomous community
of Andalusia
.
Cadiz, the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the Iberian Peninsula and possibly all southwestern Europe, has been a principal home port of the Spanish Navy since the accession of the Spanish Bourbons
in the 18th century. The city is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network
. It is also the site of the University of Cadiz
.
Despite its unique site — on a narrow slice of land surrounded by the sea — Cadiz is, in most respects, a typically Andalusia
n city with a wealth of attractive vistas and well-preserved historical landmarks. The older part of Cadiz, within the remnants of the city walls
, is commonly referred to as the Old Town (in Spanish
, Casco Antiguo). It is characterized by the antiquity of its various quarters (barrios), among them El Pópulo, La Viña, and Santa María, which present a marked contrast to the newer areas of town. While the Old City's street plan consists of narrow winding alleys connecting large plazas, newer areas of Cadiz typically have wide avenues and more modern buildings. In addition, the city is dotted by numerous parks where exotic plants flourish, including giant trees supposedly brought to Spain by Columbus
from the New World
. The city layout of Cadiz was originally designed to mimic the specifications of El Dorado Hills, California. The two cities retain "sister city" status to this day.
dialect lent this word, along with many others, to the Berber languages
, where it was nativised as agadir meaning "wall" in Tamazight
and "fortified granary" in Shilha; it appears as a common place name in North Africa
. The name of the Israeli town of Gedera
has a similar etymology.
Later, the city became known by a similar Attic Greek
form of the Phoenician name, (Gádeira). In Ionic Greek
, the name is spelled slightly differently, (Gḗdeira). This spelling appears in the histories written by Herodotus
. Rarely, the name is spelled (Gadeíra), as, for example, in the writings of Eratosthenes
(as attested by Stephanus of Byzantium
).
In Latin, the city was known as ; in Arabic, it is called قادس (Qādis). The Spanish
autonym for a resident of Cadiz is gaditano.
estimate, the population of the city of Cádiz was 130,561, and that of its metropolitan area
was 629,054. Cadiz is the seventeenth-largest Spanish city. In recent years, the city's population has steadily declined; it is the only municipality of the Bay of Cadiz
(the comarca
composed of Cadiz, Chiclana, El Puerto de Santa María
, Puerto Real
, and San Fernando), whose population has diminished. Between 1995 and 2006, it lost more than 14,000 residents, a decrease of 9%.
Among the causes of this loss of population is the peculiar geography of Cadiz; the city lies on a narrow spit of land hemmed in by the sea. Consequently, there is a pronounced shortage of land to be developed. The city has very little vacant land, and a high proportion of its housing stock is relatively low in density. (That is to say, many buildings are only two or three storeys tall, and they are only able to house a relatively small number of people within their "footprint".) The older quarters of Cádiz are full of buildings that, because of their age and historical significance, are not eligible for urban renewal
. Only replacement of these old buildings with high-density apartment projects might allow Cadiz to sustain a higher population.
Two other physical factors tend to limit the city's population. It is impossible to increase the amount of land available for building by reclaiming land from the sea; a new national law governing coastal development thwarts this possibility. Also, because Cadiz is built on a sandspit
, it is a costly proposition to sink foundations deep enough to support the high-rise buildings that would allow for a higher population density. As it stands, the city's skyline
is not substantially different than it was in medieval times
. A 17th century watchtower, the Tavira Tower, still commands a panoramic view of the city and the bay despite its relatively modest 45-metre height. (See below.)
Cadiz is the provincial capital with the highest rate of unemployment
in Spain. This, too, tends to depress the population level. Young Gaditanos, those between 18 and 30 years of age, have been migrating to other places in Spain (Madrid
and Castellón
, chiefly), as well as to other places in Europe and the Americas. The population younger than twenty years old is only 20.58% of the total, and the population older than sixty-five is 21.67%, making Cádiz one of the most aged cities in all of Spain.
Despite these trends, some are cheered by the fact that the other towns and cities surrounding the Bay of Cadiz are growing modestly, absorbing some of the population fleeing the capital. Improvements in roads and railways have allowed people to commute to Cadiz for work more easily. Increasingly, outlying communities, like Puerto Real and San Fernando, are providing bedrooms for Cadiz's workforce. In recent years, Cadiz has become more of a place to work than a place to live.
The city was originally founded as Gadir (Phoenician
גדר "walled city") by the Phoenicia
ns, who used it in their trade with Tartessos
, a city-state
believed by archaeologists to be somewhere near the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, about thirty kilometres northwest of Cadiz. (Its exact location has never been firmly established.)
Cadiz is the most ancient city still standing in Western Europe. Traditionally, its founding is dated to 1104 BC although no archaeological strata on the site can be dated earlier than the 9th century BC. One resolution for this discrepancy has been to assume that Gadir was merely a small seasonal trading post in its earliest days.
Later, the Greeks knew the city as Gadira or Gadeira. According to Greek legend
, Gadir was founded by Hercules
after performing his fabled tenth labor, the slaying of Geryon
, a monstrous warrior-titan with three heads and three torsos joined to a single pair of legs. As early as the 3rd century, a tumulus
(a large earthen mound
) near Cádiz was associated with Geryon's final resting-place.
One of the city's notable features during antiquity was the temple dedicated to the Phoenician god Melqart
. (Melqart was associated with Hercules
by the Greeks.) According to the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, the temple was still standing during the 1st century. Some historians, based in part on this source, believe that the columns of this temple were the origin of the myth of the pillars of Hercules
.
Around 500 BC, the city fell under the sway of Carthage
. Cadiz became a base of operations
for Hannibal's conquest of southern Iberia
. However, in 206 BC
, the city fell to Roman
forces under Scipio Africanus
. The people of Cadiz welcomed the victors. Under the Romans
, the city's Greek name was modified to Gades; it flourished as a Roman naval base. By the time of Augustus
, Cadiz was home to more than five hundred equites (members of one of the two upper social class
es), a concentration of notable citizens rivaled only by Padua
and Rome
itself. It was the principal city of a Roman colony
, Augusta Urbs Julia Gaditana. However, with the decline of the Roman Empire, Gades's commercial importance began to fade.
The overthrow of Roman power in Hispania Baetica
by the Visigoths in 410 saw the destruction of the original city, of which there remain few remnants today. The city was later reconquered by Justinian in 550 as a part of the Byzantine province of Spania. It would remain Byzantine until Leovigild's reconquest in 572, and returned to the Visigothic Kingdom.
Under Moorish
rule between 711 and 1262, the city was called Qādis (Arabic
قادس), from which the modern Spanish name, Cádiz, was derived. The Moors were finally ousted by Alphonso X of Castile
in 1262.
During the Age of Exploration, the city experienced a renaissance
. Christopher Columbus
sailed from Cádiz on his second and fourth voyages, (see Voyages of Christopher Columbus
) and the city later became the home port of the Spanish treasure fleet
. Consequently, the city became a major target of Spain's enemies. The 16th century also saw a series of failed raids by Barbary corsairs
. The greater part of the old town was consumed in the conflagration
of 1569. In April 1587 a raid by the Englishman Sir Francis Drake
occupied the harbour for three days, capturing six ships and destroying 31 others as well as a large quantity of stores (an event popularly known as 'The Singeing of the King of Spain's Beard'). The attack delayed the sailing of the Spanish Armada
by a year.
The city suffered a still more serious attack in 1596
, when it was captured by an English fleet under the Earl of Essex
and Sir Charles Howard
. 32 Spanish ships were destroyed and the city was captured, looted and occupied for almost a month. Finally, when the royal authorities refused to pay a ransom demanded by the English for returning the city intact, they burned much of it before leaving with their booty. Another English raid was mounted by the Duke of Buckingham
in 1625 against the city, commanded by Sir Edward Cecil
, but this was unsuccessful. In the Anglo-Spanish War
Admiral Robert Blake blockaded Cadiz from 1655 to 1657. In the Battle of Cádiz (1702)
, the English attacked again under Sir George Rooke and James, Duke of Ormonde
, but they were repelled after a costly siege.
In the 18th century, the sand bars of the river Guadalquivir
forced the Spanish government to transfer the port monopolizing trade with Spanish America
from upriver Seville
to Cadiz with better access to the Atlantic. During this time, the city experienced a golden age during which three-quarters of all Spanish trade was with the Americas. It became one of Spain's greatest and most cosmopolitan cities and home to trading communities from many countries, among whom the richest was the Irish community. Many of today's historic buildings in the Old City date from this era.
During the Napoleonic Wars
Cadiz was blockaded by the British
from 1797 until the Peace of Amiens in 1802, and again from 1803 until the outbreak of the Peninsular War
in 1808. In that war it was one of the few Spanish cities to hold out against the invading French, who sought to install Joseph Bonaparte
on the throne. It became the seat of Spain's military high command and of the Cortes
(parliament) for the duration of the war. It was here that the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812
was proclaimed. The citizens revolted in 1820 to secure a renewal of this constitution; the revolution spread across Spain, leading to the imprisonment of King Ferdinand VII in Cadiz. French forces
secured the release of Ferdinand in the Battle of Trocadero
(1823) and suppressed liberalism
. In 1868, Cadiz was once again the seat of a revolution, resulting in the eventual abdication and exile of Queen Isabella II
. The same Cadiz Cortes decided to reinstate the monarchy under King Amadeo I just two years later.
In recent years, the city has undergone much reconstruction. Many monuments, cathedrals, and landmark
s have been cleaned and restored, adding to the considerable charm of this ancient city.
is a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville
; that is, it is a diocese within the metropolitan see of Seville. It became a diocese in 1263 after its Reconquista
(reconquest) from the Moors. By the Concordat
of 1753, in which the Spanish crown also gained the rights to make appointments to church offices and to tax church lands, the diocese of Cadiz was merged with the diocese of Ceuta, a Spanish conclave on the northern coast of Africa, and the diocesan bishop
became, by virtue of his office, the Apostolic Administrator
of Ceuta.
Historically, the diocese counts among its most famous prelates Cardinal
Juan de Torquemada
, a Dominican
theologian and expert on canon law
, who took a leading part in the Councils of Basle and Florence, and defended, in his Summe de Ecclesia, the direct power of the pope in temporal matters. His nephew, Tomas Torquemada, is most closely associated with the 15th century Spanish Inquisition
.
s, a theatre, an old municipal building, an 18th-century watchtower, a vestige of the ancient city wall, an ancient Roman theatre, and electrical pylons of an eye-catchingly modern design carrying cables across the Bay of Cádiz. The old town is characterised by narrow streets connecting squares (plazas), bordered by the sea and by the city walls. Most of the landmark buildings are situated in the plazas.
s in Europe, and is packed with narrow streets. The old town benefits though from several striking plazas, which are enjoyed by citizens and tourists alike. These are Plaza de Mina, Plaza San Antonio, Plaza de Candelaria, Plaza de San Juan de Dios and Plaza de España.
, a hero of the war of independence. Manuel de Falla
y Matheu was born in Number 3 Plaza de Mina, where a plaque bears his name. The plaza also contains several statues, one of these is a bust of José Macpherson (a pioneer in the development of petrography
, stratigraphy
and tectonics
) who was born in number 12 Plaza de Mina in 1839. The Museum of Cadiz
, is to be found at number 5 Plaza de Mina, and contains many objects from Cádiz's 3000 year history as well as works by artists such as Peter Paul Rubens. The houses which face the plaza, many of which can be classified as neo-classical architecture or built in the style of Isabelline Gothic
, were originally occupied by the Cadiz bourgeoisie
.
The Plaza de la Catedral houses both the Cathedral and the Baroque
church of Santiago, built in 1635.
style, once occupied by the Cadiz upper classes. San Antonio church, originally built in 1669, is also situated in the plaza.
The plaza was built in the 18th century, and on 19 March 1812 the Spanish Constitution of 1812 was proclaimed here, leading to the plaza to be named Plaza de la Constitución, and then later Plaza San Antonio, after the hermit San Antonio.
In 1954 the city's mayor proclaimed the location a historic site. All construction is prohibited.
, an Irish-Chilean adventurer and former dictator of Chile also, lived in the square.
, who had also built the Granada Cathedral
. Acero left the project and was succeeded by several other architects. As a result, this largely Baroque-style cathedral was built over a period of 116 years, and, due to this drawn-out period of construction, the cathedral underwent several major changes to its original design. Though the cathedral was originally intended to be a baroque edifice, it contains rococo
elements, and was finally completed in the neoclassical style
. Its chapel
s have many paintings and relics from the old cathedral and monasteries from throughout Spain.
is the town hall of Cadiz's Old City. The structure, constructed on the bases and location of the previous Consistorial Houses (1699), was built in two stages. The first stage began in 1799 under the direction of architect Torcuato Benjumeda in the neoclassical
style. The second stage was completed in 1861 under the direction of García del Alamo, in the Isabelline Gothic
( or, simply, the Isabelino) style. Here, in 1936, the flag of Andalusia
was hoisted for the first time.
The goal of this demolition was to create a grand new city square to mark the hundredth anniversary of the liberal constitution, which was proclaimed in this city in 1812, and provide a setting for a suitable memorial. The work is by the architect, Modesto Lopez Otero, and of the sculptor, Aniceto Marinas. The work began in 1912 and finished in 1929.
The lower level of the monument represents a chamber and an empty presidential armchair. The upper level has various inscriptions surmounting the chamber. On each side are bronze figures representing peace and war. In the center, a pilaster
rises to symbolize, in allegorical terms, the principals expressed in the 1812 constitution. At the foot of this pilaster, there is a female figure representing Spain, and, to either side, scuptural groupings representing agriculture and citizenship.
s and is of a neo-Mudéjar or Moorish revival
style. Following renovations in the 1920s, the theatre was renamed the Gran Teatro Falla, in honor of composer Manuel de Falla
, who is buried in the crypt of the cathedral. After a period of disrepair in the 1980s, the theatre has since undergone extensive renovation.
. These towers often formed part of the merchants' houses. The Torre Tavira, named for its original owner, stands as the tallest remaining watchtower. It has a cámara oscura
, a room that uses the principal of the pinhole camera
(and a specially-prepared convex lens
) to project panoramic views of the Old City onto a concave disc. (Also see the article titled Widow's walk
.)
, the so-called Fleet of the Indies, Don Diego de Barrios. The exterior is sheathed in exquisite red and white Genoan marble, prepared in the workshops of Andreoli, and mounted by the master, García Narváez. The colonnaded portico, the grand staircase under the cupola, and the hall on the main floor are architectural features of great nobility and beauty. The shield of the Barrios family appears on the second-floor balcony.
es.
offers excellent international conference and trade-show facilities. Home to the third annual MAST Conference and trade-show (12 to 14 November 2008)
. Systematic excavations have revealed a largely intact Roman theatre.
The theatre, constructed by order of Lucius Cornelius Balbus (minor)
during the 1st century BC, is the second largest Roman theatre in the world, surpassed only by the theater of Pompeii
, south of Rome
. Cicero
, in his Epistulae ad Familiares ("Letters to his friends"), wrote of its use by Balbus for personal propaganda.
are electricity pylon
s of unusual design, one on either side of the Bay of Cadiz
, used to support huge electric-power cables. The pylons are 158 metres high and designed for two circuits
. The very unconventional construction consists of a narrow frustum
steel
framework with one crossbar at the top of each one for the insulators.
, officially "La Pepa" and also named the second bridge to Cadiz or new access to Cadiz. It will cross the Bay of Cadiz
linking Cadiz with Puerto Real
in mainland Spain. When the bridge is finished it will be the longest bridge in Spain
and the longest span cable-stayed in this country.
El Arco de los Blancos is the gate to the Populo district, built around 1300. It was the principal gate to the medieval town. The gate is named after the family of Felipe Blanco who built a chapel (now disappeared) above the gate.
El Arco de la Rosa ("Rose Arch") is a gate carved into the medieval walls next to the cathedral. It is named after captain Gaspar de la Rosa, who lived in the city during the 18th century. The gate was renovated in 1973.
) is a military fortification. Taking advantage of a natural elevation of land, it was constructed in 1672 at the initiative of the governor, Diego Caballero de Illescas. Protected by a seaward-facing wall that had previously served as a seawall, Candelaria's cannons were in a position to command the channels approaching the port of Cádiz. In more recent times, the edifice has served as a headquarters for the corps of military engineer
s and as the home to the army's homing pigeons, birds used to carry written messages over hostile terrain. Thoroughly renovated, it is now used as a cultural venue. There has been some discussion of using it to house a maritime museum
, but, at present, it is designated for use as a permanent exposition space.
La Playa de la Caleta
is the best-loved beach of Cadiz. It has always been in Carnival songs, due to its unequalled beauty and its proximity to the Barrio de la Viña. It is the beach of the Old City, situated between two castles, San Sebastian and Santa Catalina. It is around four hundred meters long and thirty meters wide at low tide
. La Caleta and the boulevard show a lot of resemblance to parts of Havana
, the capital city of Cuba
, like the malecon
. Therefore it served as the set for several of the Cuban scenes in the beginning of the James Bond movie
Die Another Day
.
La Playa de la Victoria, in the newer part of Cadiz, is the beach most visited by tourists and natives of Cádiz. It is about three kilometers long, and it has an average width of fifty meters of sand. The moderate swell
and the absence of rocks allow family bathing. It is separated from the city by an avenue; on the landward side of the avenue, there are many shops and restaurants.
La Playa de Santa María del Mar or Playita de las Mujeres is a small beach in Cadiz, situated between La Playa de Victoria and La Playa de la Caleta. It features excellent views of the old district of Cadiz.
Others beaches are Torregorda, Cortadura and El Chato.
s in the world. Throughout the year, carnival-related activities are almost constant in the city; there are always rehearsals, public demonstrations, and contest
s of various kinds.
The city of Cadiz is often noted for having the most humorous people in Spain. Consequently, the central themes of the carnival are sharp criticism
s, often of a political nature, clever plays on words
, and the off-beat imagination displayed in revelers' costumes, which, unlike in carnival venues elsewhere in the world, do not emphasize the glamorous or scandalous.
The Carnival of Cadiz is famous for the satirical groups called chirigotas, who perform comical musical pieces
. Typically, a chirigota is composed of seven to twelve performers who sing, act and improvise accompanied by guitar
s, kazoo
s, a bass drum
, and a variety of noise-makers. Other than the chirigotas, there are many other groups of performers: choruses; ensembles called comparsas, who sing in close harmony
much like the barbershop quartets of African-American culture or the mariachi
s of Mexico; cuartetos, consisting of four (or sometimes three) performers alternating dramatic parodies and humorous songs; and romanceros, storytellers
who recite tales in verse. These diverse spectacles turn the city into a colorful and popular open-air theater for two entire weeks in February.
The (the official association of carnival groups) sponsors a contest in the Gran Teatro Falla (see above) each year where chirigotas and other performers compete for prizes. This is the climactic event of the Cadiz carnival.
with: Brest
, France
Buenos Aires
, Argentina
Havana
, Cuba
Medway
, UK Montevideo
, Uruguay
Tangiers, Morocco
San Juan
, Puerto Rico
Santos, Brazil
Dakhla
, Western Sahara
Indio
, USA Byblos
, Lebanon
Spain
: A Coruña
, Ceuta
, Huelva
, Móstoles
, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
, Torrevieja
Colombia
: Cartagena de Indias, La Dorada, Santa Fe de Antioquia, Guaduas
, Honda, Ambalema
, San Sebastián de Mariquita & Bogotá
Mexico
: México DF, Puebla
, San Pedro Cholula, & Veracruz
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It is the capital of the homonymous province
Cádiz (province)
Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of continental Western Europe....
, one of eight which make up the autonomous community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
of Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
.
Cadiz, the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the Iberian Peninsula and possibly all southwestern Europe, has been a principal home port of the Spanish Navy since the accession of the Spanish Bourbons
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
in the 18th century. The city is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network
Most Ancient European Towns Network
The Most Ancient European Towns Network is a working group of the oldest cities in Europe. It was founded in 1994, with the idea coming from the town of Argos, Greece presented to the European Union...
. It is also the site of the University of Cadiz
University of Cádiz
The University of Cádiz , commonly referred to as UCA, is a public university located in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain, noted for its medicine and marine sciences curricula. It was founded in 1979, and has the Latin motto Non Plus Ultra...
.
Despite its unique site — on a narrow slice of land surrounded by the sea — Cadiz is, in most respects, a typically Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
n city with a wealth of attractive vistas and well-preserved historical landmarks. The older part of Cadiz, within the remnants of the city walls
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
, is commonly referred to as the Old Town (in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Casco Antiguo). It is characterized by the antiquity of its various quarters (barrios), among them El Pópulo, La Viña, and Santa María, which present a marked contrast to the newer areas of town. While the Old City's street plan consists of narrow winding alleys connecting large plazas, newer areas of Cadiz typically have wide avenues and more modern buildings. In addition, the city is dotted by numerous parks where exotic plants flourish, including giant trees supposedly brought to Spain by Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
from the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
. The city layout of Cadiz was originally designed to mimic the specifications of El Dorado Hills, California. The two cities retain "sister city" status to this day.
Toponymy
Gadir (Phoenician: גדר), the original name given to the outpost established here by the Phoenicians, means "wall, compound", or, more generally, "walled stronghold". The PunicPunic language
The Punic language or Carthagian language is an extinct Semitic language formerly spoken in the Mediterranean region of North Africa and several Mediterranean islands, by people of the Punic culture.- Description :...
dialect lent this word, along with many others, to the Berber languages
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
, where it was nativised as agadir meaning "wall" in Tamazight
Central Morocco Tamazight
Central Atlas Tamazight is a Berber languageCentral Atlas Tamazight may be referred to as either a Berber language or a Berber dialect...
and "fortified granary" in Shilha; it appears as a common place name in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. The name of the Israeli town of Gedera
Gedera
-External links:** *...
has a similar etymology.
Later, the city became known by a similar Attic Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
form of the Phoenician name, (Gádeira). In Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek .-History:Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century...
, the name is spelled slightly differently, (Gḗdeira). This spelling appears in the histories written by Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
. Rarely, the name is spelled (Gadeíra), as, for example, in the writings of Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was a Greek mathematician, poet, athlete, geographer, astronomer, and music theorist.He was the first person to use the word "geography" and invented the discipline of geography as we understand it...
(as attested by Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...
).
In Latin, the city was known as ; in Arabic, it is called قادس (Qādis). The Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
autonym for a resident of Cadiz is gaditano.
Population and demographic trends
According to a 2006 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
estimate, the population of the city of Cádiz was 130,561, and that of its metropolitan area
Metropolitan area
The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
was 629,054. Cadiz is the seventeenth-largest Spanish city. In recent years, the city's population has steadily declined; it is the only municipality of the Bay of Cadiz
Bay of Cádiz (comarca)
The Bay of Cádiz is a comarca in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, southern Spain. It is composed of five municipalities: Cádiz, Chiclana, El Puerto de Santa María, Puerto Réal, and San Fernando.- External links:**...
(the comarca
Comarca
A comarca is a traditional region or local administrative division found in parts of Spain, Portugal, Panama, Nicaragua, and Brazil. The term is derived from the term marca, meaning a "march, mark", plus the prefix co- meaning "together, jointly".The comarca is known in Aragonese as redolada and...
composed of Cadiz, Chiclana, El Puerto de Santa María
El Puerto de Santa María
El Puerto de Santa María is a municipality located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Spain. , the city has a population of c...
, Puerto Real
Puerto Real
Puerto Real is a seaport in southern Spain, in the province of Cádiz and the autonomous region of Andalusia. , it had a population 40,667....
, and San Fernando), whose population has diminished. Between 1995 and 2006, it lost more than 14,000 residents, a decrease of 9%.
Among the causes of this loss of population is the peculiar geography of Cadiz; the city lies on a narrow spit of land hemmed in by the sea. Consequently, there is a pronounced shortage of land to be developed. The city has very little vacant land, and a high proportion of its housing stock is relatively low in density. (That is to say, many buildings are only two or three storeys tall, and they are only able to house a relatively small number of people within their "footprint".) The older quarters of Cádiz are full of buildings that, because of their age and historical significance, are not eligible for urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
. Only replacement of these old buildings with high-density apartment projects might allow Cadiz to sustain a higher population.
Two other physical factors tend to limit the city's population. It is impossible to increase the amount of land available for building by reclaiming land from the sea; a new national law governing coastal development thwarts this possibility. Also, because Cadiz is built on a sandspit
Spit (landform)
A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...
, it is a costly proposition to sink foundations deep enough to support the high-rise buildings that would allow for a higher population density. As it stands, the city's skyline
Skyline
A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...
is not substantially different than it was in medieval times
Medieval Times
Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament is a family dinner theater featuring staged medieval-style games, sword-fighting, and jousting performed by a cast of 75 actors and 20 horses. Each location is housed in a replica 11th-century castle, with the exception of the Toronto location, which is housed...
. A 17th century watchtower, the Tavira Tower, still commands a panoramic view of the city and the bay despite its relatively modest 45-metre height. (See below.)
Cadiz is the provincial capital with the highest rate of unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
in Spain. This, too, tends to depress the population level. Young Gaditanos, those between 18 and 30 years of age, have been migrating to other places in Spain (Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Castellón
Castellón (province)
Castellón or Castelló is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community, Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east. The western side of the province is in the mountainous...
, chiefly), as well as to other places in Europe and the Americas. The population younger than twenty years old is only 20.58% of the total, and the population older than sixty-five is 21.67%, making Cádiz one of the most aged cities in all of Spain.
Despite these trends, some are cheered by the fact that the other towns and cities surrounding the Bay of Cadiz are growing modestly, absorbing some of the population fleeing the capital. Improvements in roads and railways have allowed people to commute to Cadiz for work more easily. Increasingly, outlying communities, like Puerto Real and San Fernando, are providing bedrooms for Cadiz's workforce. In recent years, Cadiz has become more of a place to work than a place to live.
History
Phoenician languages
Phoenician was a language originally spoken in the coastal region then called "Canaan" in Phoenician, Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic, "Phoenicia" in Greek and Latin, and "Pūt" in Ancient Egyptian. Phoenician is a Semitic language of the Canaanite subgroup; its closest living relative is Hebrew, to...
גדר "walled city") by the Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
ns, who used it in their trade with Tartessos
Tartessos
Tartessos or Tartessus was a harbor city and surrounding culture on the south coast of the Iberian peninsula , at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. It appears in sources from Greece and the Near East starting in the middle of the first millennium BC, for example Herodotus, who describes it as...
, a city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
believed by archaeologists to be somewhere near the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, about thirty kilometres northwest of Cadiz. (Its exact location has never been firmly established.)
Cadiz is the most ancient city still standing in Western Europe. Traditionally, its founding is dated to 1104 BC although no archaeological strata on the site can be dated earlier than the 9th century BC. One resolution for this discrepancy has been to assume that Gadir was merely a small seasonal trading post in its earliest days.
Later, the Greeks knew the city as Gadira or Gadeira. According to Greek legend
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, Gadir was founded by Hercules
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
after performing his fabled tenth labor, the slaying of Geryon
Geryon
In Greek mythology, Geryon , son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa, was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. A more literal-minded later generation of Greeks associated the region with Tartessos in southern...
, a monstrous warrior-titan with three heads and three torsos joined to a single pair of legs. As early as the 3rd century, a tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
(a large earthen mound
Mound
A mound is a general term for an artificial heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. The most common use is in reference to natural earthen formation such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. The term may also be applied to any rounded area of topographically...
) near Cádiz was associated with Geryon's final resting-place.
One of the city's notable features during antiquity was the temple dedicated to the Phoenician god Melqart
Melqart
Melqart, properly Phoenician Milk-Qart "King of the City", less accurately Melkart, Melkarth or Melgart , Akkadian Milqartu, was tutelary god of the Phoenician city of Tyre as Eshmun protected Sidon. Melqart was often titled Ba‘l Ṣūr "Lord of Tyre", the ancestral king of the royal line...
. (Melqart was associated with Hercules
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
by the Greeks.) According to the Life of Apollonius of Tyana, the temple was still standing during the 1st century. Some historians, based in part on this source, believe that the columns of this temple were the origin of the myth of the pillars of Hercules
Pillars of Hercules
The Pillars of Hercules was the phrase that was applied in Antiquity to the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar is the Rock of Gibraltar in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar...
.
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
. Cadiz became a base of operations
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
for Hannibal's conquest of southern Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
. However, in 206 BC
206 BC
Year 206 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Philo and Metellus...
, the city fell to Roman
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
forces under Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...
. The people of Cadiz welcomed the victors. Under the Romans
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, the city's Greek name was modified to Gades; it flourished as a Roman naval base. By the time of Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, Cadiz was home to more than five hundred equites (members of one of the two upper social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
es), a concentration of notable citizens rivaled only by Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
itself. It was the principal city of a Roman colony
Colonies in antiquity
Colonies in antiquity were city-states founded from a mother-city—its "metropolis"—, not from a territory-at-large. Bonds between a colony and its metropolis remained often close, and took specific forms...
, Augusta Urbs Julia Gaditana. However, with the decline of the Roman Empire, Gades's commercial importance began to fade.
The overthrow of Roman power in Hispania Baetica
Hispania Baetica
Hispania Baetica was one of three Imperial Roman provinces in Hispania, . Hispania Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica was part of Al-Andalus under the Moors in the 8th century and approximately corresponds to modern Andalucia...
by the Visigoths in 410 saw the destruction of the original city, of which there remain few remnants today. The city was later reconquered by Justinian in 550 as a part of the Byzantine province of Spania. It would remain Byzantine until Leovigild's reconquest in 572, and returned to the Visigothic Kingdom.
Under Moorish
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
rule between 711 and 1262, the city was called Qādis (Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
قادس), from which the modern Spanish name, Cádiz, was derived. The Moors were finally ousted by Alphonso X of Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
in 1262.
During the Age of Exploration, the city experienced a renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
. Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
sailed from Cádiz on his second and fourth voyages, (see Voyages of Christopher Columbus
Voyages of Christopher Columbus
In the early modern period, the voyages of Columbus initiated European exploration and colonization of the American continents, and are thus of great significance in world history. Christopher Columbus was a navigator and an admiral for Castile, a country that later founded modern Spain...
) and the city later became the home port of the Spanish treasure fleet
Spanish treasure fleet
The Spanish treasure fleets was a convoy system adopted by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790...
. Consequently, the city became a major target of Spain's enemies. The 16th century also saw a series of failed raids by Barbary corsairs
Barbary corsairs
The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...
. The greater part of the old town was consumed in the conflagration
Conflagration
A conflagration or a blaze is an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, or property. A conflagration can be accidentally begun, naturally caused , or intentionally created . Arson can be accomplished for the purpose of sabotage or diversion, and also can be the consequence of...
of 1569. In April 1587 a raid by the Englishman Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
occupied the harbour for three days, capturing six ships and destroying 31 others as well as a large quantity of stores (an event popularly known as 'The Singeing of the King of Spain's Beard'). The attack delayed the sailing of the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
by a year.
The city suffered a still more serious attack in 1596
Capture of Cadiz
The Capture of Cádiz in 1596 was an event during the Anglo-Spanish War, when English and Dutch troops under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and a large Anglo-Dutch fleet under Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, with support from the Dutch United Provinces, raided the Spanish city of...
, when it was captured by an English fleet under the Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...
and Sir Charles Howard
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham , known as Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I...
. 32 Spanish ships were destroyed and the city was captured, looted and occupied for almost a month. Finally, when the royal authorities refused to pay a ransom demanded by the English for returning the city intact, they burned much of it before leaving with their booty. Another English raid was mounted by the Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
in 1625 against the city, commanded by Sir Edward Cecil
Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon
Edward Cecil, 1st Viscount Wimbledon was an English military and naval commander.-Life:The third son of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter and grandson of Queen Elizabeth's great minister Lord Burghley, Cecil served with the English forces in the Netherlands between 1596 and 1610, becoming a captain...
, but this was unsuccessful. In the Anglo-Spanish War
Anglo-Spanish War (1654)
The Anglo-Spanish War was a conflict between the English Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell and Spain, between 1654 and 1660. It was caused by commercial rivalry. Each side attacked the other's commercial and colonial interests in various ways such as privateering and naval expeditions. In 1655, an...
Admiral Robert Blake blockaded Cadiz from 1655 to 1657. In the Battle of Cádiz (1702)
Battle of Cádiz (1702)
The Battle of Cádiz, fought in August/September 1702, was an Anglo-Dutch attempt to seize the southern Spanish port of Cádiz during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Andalusian city of Cádiz was the great European centre of the Spanish–American trade...
, the English attacked again under Sir George Rooke and James, Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG KT was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde...
, but they were repelled after a costly siege.
In the 18th century, the sand bars of the river Guadalquivir
Guadalquivir
The Guadalquivir is the fifth longest river in the Iberian peninsula and the second longest river to be its whole length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is 657 kilometers long and drains an area of about 58,000 square kilometers...
forced the Spanish government to transfer the port monopolizing trade with Spanish America
Hispanic America
Hispanic America or Spanish America is the region comprising the American countries inhabited by Spanish-speaking populations.These countries have significant commonalities with each other and with Spain, whose colonies they formerly were...
from upriver Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
to Cadiz with better access to the Atlantic. During this time, the city experienced a golden age during which three-quarters of all Spanish trade was with the Americas. It became one of Spain's greatest and most cosmopolitan cities and home to trading communities from many countries, among whom the richest was the Irish community. Many of today's historic buildings in the Old City date from this era.
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
Cadiz was blockaded by the British
Blockade of Cádiz (1797)
The Assault on Cadiz was a part of a protracted naval blockade of the Spanish port of Cadiz by the Royal Navy, which comprised the siege and the shelling of the city as well as an amphibious assault on the port itself from June to July 1797. After the battle of Cape Saint Vincent the British fleet...
from 1797 until the Peace of Amiens in 1802, and again from 1803 until the outbreak of the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
in 1808. In that war it was one of the few Spanish cities to hold out against the invading French, who sought to install Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
on the throne. It became the seat of Spain's military high command and of the Cortes
Cádiz Cortes
The Cádiz Cortes were sessions of the national legislative body which met in the safe haven of Cádiz during the French occupation of Spain during the Napoleonic Wars...
(parliament) for the duration of the war. It was here that the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812
Spanish Constitution of 1812
The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...
was proclaimed. The citizens revolted in 1820 to secure a renewal of this constitution; the revolution spread across Spain, leading to the imprisonment of King Ferdinand VII in Cadiz. French forces
Military of France
The French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force and the National Gendarmerie. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title "chef des armées" . The President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who...
secured the release of Ferdinand in the Battle of Trocadero
Battle of Trocadero
The Battle of Trocadero, fought on 31 August 1823, was the only significant battle in the French invasion of Spain when French forces defeated the Spanish liberal forces and restored the absolute rule of King Ferdinand VII.-Prelude:...
(1823) and suppressed liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
. In 1868, Cadiz was once again the seat of a revolution, resulting in the eventual abdication and exile of Queen Isabella II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
. The same Cadiz Cortes decided to reinstate the monarchy under King Amadeo I just two years later.
In recent years, the city has undergone much reconstruction. Many monuments, cathedrals, and landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
s have been cleaned and restored, adding to the considerable charm of this ancient city.
Diocese
The diocese of Cadiz and CeutaCeuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
is a suffragan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seville
The Archdiocese of Seville is part of the Catholic Church in Seville, Spain. The Diocese of Seville was founded in the 3rd century. It was raised to the level of an archdiocese in the 4th century. The current Archbishop is Juan José Asenjo Pelegrina...
; that is, it is a diocese within the metropolitan see of Seville. It became a diocese in 1263 after its Reconquista
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
(reconquest) from the Moors. By the Concordat
Concordat
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters. Legally, they are international treaties. They often includes both recognition and privileges for the Catholic Church in a particular country...
of 1753, in which the Spanish crown also gained the rights to make appointments to church offices and to tax church lands, the diocese of Cadiz was merged with the diocese of Ceuta, a Spanish conclave on the northern coast of Africa, and the diocesan bishop
Diocesan bishop
A diocesan bishop — in general — is a bishop in charge of a diocese. These are to be distinguished from suffragan bishops, assistant bishops, coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, metropolitans, and primates....
became, by virtue of his office, the Apostolic Administrator
Apostolic Administrator
An apostolic administrator in the Roman Catholic Church is a prelate appointed by the Pope to serve as the ordinary for an apostolic administration...
of Ceuta.
Historically, the diocese counts among its most famous prelates Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
Juan de Torquemada
Juan de Torquemada (Cardinal)
Juan de Torquemada , or rather Johannes de Turrecremata, Spanish ecclesiastic, was born at Valladolid, and was educated in that city....
, a Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
theologian and expert on canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
, who took a leading part in the Councils of Basle and Florence, and defended, in his Summe de Ecclesia, the direct power of the pope in temporal matters. His nephew, Tomas Torquemada, is most closely associated with the 15th century Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
.
Main sights
Among the many landmarks of historical and scenic interest in Cadiz, a few stand out. The city can boast of an unusual cathedral of various architectural styleArchitectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
s, a theatre, an old municipal building, an 18th-century watchtower, a vestige of the ancient city wall, an ancient Roman theatre, and electrical pylons of an eye-catchingly modern design carrying cables across the Bay of Cádiz. The old town is characterised by narrow streets connecting squares (plazas), bordered by the sea and by the city walls. Most of the landmark buildings are situated in the plazas.
Plazas and their landmark buildings
The old town of Cadiz is one of the most densely populated urban areaUrban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
s in Europe, and is packed with narrow streets. The old town benefits though from several striking plazas, which are enjoyed by citizens and tourists alike. These are Plaza de Mina, Plaza San Antonio, Plaza de Candelaria, Plaza de San Juan de Dios and Plaza de España.
Plaza de Mina
Located in the heart of the old town, Plaza de Mina, (the most beautiful of the Cadiz plazas) was developed in the first half of the 19th century. Previously, the land occupied by the plaza was the orchard of the convent of San Francisco. The plaza was converted into a plaza in 1838 by the architect Torcuato Benjumeda and (later) Juan Daura, with its trees being planted in 1861. It was then redeveloped again in 1897, and has remained virtually unchanged since that time. It is named after General Francisco Espoz y MinaFrancisco Espoz y Mina
Francisco Espoz y Mina was a Spanish guerrilla leader and general.He was born at Idocin in Navarre. His father, Juan Esteban Espoz y Mina, and his mother, Maria Teresa Hundain y Ardaiz, belonged to the class of yeomen. Mina remained working on the small family inheritance until 1808...
, a hero of the war of independence. Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
y Matheu was born in Number 3 Plaza de Mina, where a plaque bears his name. The plaza also contains several statues, one of these is a bust of José Macpherson (a pioneer in the development of petrography
Petrography
Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. Petrographic descriptions start with the field notes at the...
, stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
and tectonics
Tectonics
Tectonics is a field of study within geology concerned generally with the structures within the lithosphere of the Earth and particularly with the forces and movements that have operated in a region to create these structures.Tectonics is concerned with the orogenies and tectonic development of...
) who was born in number 12 Plaza de Mina in 1839. The Museum of Cadiz
Museum of Cadiz
The Museum of Cadiz is a museum located in Cádiz, Spain. It was founded in 1838.- External links :*...
, is to be found at number 5 Plaza de Mina, and contains many objects from Cádiz's 3000 year history as well as works by artists such as Peter Paul Rubens. The houses which face the plaza, many of which can be classified as neo-classical architecture or built in the style of Isabelline Gothic
Isabelline Gothic
Isabelline Gothic , is a style of the Crown of Castile during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, who represents the transition between late Gothic and early Renaissance, with original features and decorative influences of Mudéjar art, Flanders and in a lesser extent, Italy.The Isabelline style...
, were originally occupied by the Cadiz bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
.
The Plaza de la Catedral houses both the Cathedral and the Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
church of Santiago, built in 1635.
Plaza de San Francisco and San Francisco Church and Convent
Located next to Plaza de Mina, this smaller square houses the San Francisco church and convent. Originally built in 1566, it was substantially renovated in the 17th century, when its cloisters were added. Originally, the Plaza de Mina formed the convent's orchard.Plaza San Antonio
In the 19th century Plaza San Antonio was considered to be Cadiz’s main square. It is a beautiful square, surrounded by a number of mansions built in neo-classical architecture or Isabelline GothicIsabelline Gothic
Isabelline Gothic , is a style of the Crown of Castile during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, who represents the transition between late Gothic and early Renaissance, with original features and decorative influences of Mudéjar art, Flanders and in a lesser extent, Italy.The Isabelline style...
style, once occupied by the Cadiz upper classes. San Antonio church, originally built in 1669, is also situated in the plaza.
The plaza was built in the 18th century, and on 19 March 1812 the Spanish Constitution of 1812 was proclaimed here, leading to the plaza to be named Plaza de la Constitución, and then later Plaza San Antonio, after the hermit San Antonio.
In 1954 the city's mayor proclaimed the location a historic site. All construction is prohibited.
Plaza de Candelaria
The Plaza de Candelaria is named after the Candelaria convent, situated in the square until it was demolished in 1873, when its grounds were redeveloped as a plaza. The plaza is notable for a statue in its centre of Emilio Castelar, president of the first Spanish republic, who was born in a house facing the square. A plaque situated on another house, states that Bernardo O'HigginsBernardo O'Higgins
Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme was a Chilean independence leader who, together with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. Although he was the second Supreme Director of Chile , he is considered one of Chile's founding fathers, as he was the first holder...
, an Irish-Chilean adventurer and former dictator of Chile also, lived in the square.
Plaza de la Catedral and the Cathedral
One of Cadiz's most famous landmarks is its cathedral. It sits on the site of an older cathedral, completed in 1260, which burned down in 1596. The reconstruction, which was not started until 1776, was supervised by the architect Vicente AceroVicente Acero
Vicente Acero y Arebo was a Spanish Baroque architect whose contributed significantly to the design and construction of the cathedrals of Granada, Guadix, Cádiz, and Málaga....
, who had also built the Granada Cathedral
Granada Cathedral
Granada Cathedral is the cathedral in the city of Granada, capital of the province of the same name in the Autonomous Region of Andalusia, Spain.-History:...
. Acero left the project and was succeeded by several other architects. As a result, this largely Baroque-style cathedral was built over a period of 116 years, and, due to this drawn-out period of construction, the cathedral underwent several major changes to its original design. Though the cathedral was originally intended to be a baroque edifice, it contains rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
elements, and was finally completed in the neoclassical style
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
. Its chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
s have many paintings and relics from the old cathedral and monasteries from throughout Spain.
Plaza de San Juan de Dios and the Old Town Hall
Construction of this plaza began in the 15th century on lands reclaimed from the sea. With the demolition of the City walls in 1906 the plaza increased in size and a statue of the Cadiz politician Segismundo Moret was unveiled. Overlooking the plaza, the AyuntamientoAyuntamiento
Ayuntamiento In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . is the general term for the council of a municipality, or sometimes the municipality itself, in Spain and Latin America. Historically Ayuntamiento was often preceded by the word excelentísimo , when referring to...
is the town hall of Cadiz's Old City. The structure, constructed on the bases and location of the previous Consistorial Houses (1699), was built in two stages. The first stage began in 1799 under the direction of architect Torcuato Benjumeda in the neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
style. The second stage was completed in 1861 under the direction of García del Alamo, in the Isabelline Gothic
Isabelline Gothic
Isabelline Gothic , is a style of the Crown of Castile during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, who represents the transition between late Gothic and early Renaissance, with original features and decorative influences of Mudéjar art, Flanders and in a lesser extent, Italy.The Isabelline style...
( or, simply, the Isabelino) style. Here, in 1936, the flag of Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
was hoisted for the first time.
Plaza de España and the monument to the constitution of 1812
The Plaza de España is a large square close to the port. It is dominated by the Monument to the Constitution of 1812, which came into being as a consequence of the demolition of a portion of the old city wall. The plaza is an extension of the old Plazuela del Carbón.The goal of this demolition was to create a grand new city square to mark the hundredth anniversary of the liberal constitution, which was proclaimed in this city in 1812, and provide a setting for a suitable memorial. The work is by the architect, Modesto Lopez Otero, and of the sculptor, Aniceto Marinas. The work began in 1912 and finished in 1929.
The lower level of the monument represents a chamber and an empty presidential armchair. The upper level has various inscriptions surmounting the chamber. On each side are bronze figures representing peace and war. In the center, a pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
rises to symbolize, in allegorical terms, the principals expressed in the 1812 constitution. At the foot of this pilaster, there is a female figure representing Spain, and, to either side, scuptural groupings representing agriculture and citizenship.
Plaza de Falla and the Gran Teatro Falla (Falla Grand Theatre)
The original Gran Teatro was constructed in 1871 by the architect García del Alamo, and was destroyed by a fire in August, 1881. The current theatre was built between 1884 and 1905 over the remains of the previous Gran Teatro. The architect was Adolfo Morales de los Rios, and the overseer of construction was Juan Cabrera de la Torre. The outside was covered in red brickBrick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s and is of a neo-Mudéjar or Moorish revival
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental...
style. Following renovations in the 1920s, the theatre was renamed the Gran Teatro Falla, in honor of composer Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
, who is buried in the crypt of the cathedral. After a period of disrepair in the 1980s, the theatre has since undergone extensive renovation.
Tavira tower
In the 18th century, Cadiz had more than 160 towers from which local merchants could look out to sea for arriving merchant shipsCargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
. These towers often formed part of the merchants' houses. The Torre Tavira, named for its original owner, stands as the tallest remaining watchtower. It has a cámara oscura
Camera obscura
The camera obscura is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side...
, a room that uses the principal of the pinhole camera
Pinhole camera
A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens and with a single small aperture – effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through this single point and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box...
(and a specially-prepared convex lens
Lens (optics)
A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
) to project panoramic views of the Old City onto a concave disc. (Also see the article titled Widow's walk
Widow's walk
A widow's walk also known as a "widow's watch" is a railed rooftop platform often with a small enclosed cupola frequently found on 19th century North American houses. A popular romantic myth holds that the platform was used to observe vessels at sea...
.)
Admiral's House
The Casa del Almirante is a palatial house, adjacent to the Plaza San Martín in the Barrio del Pópulo, which was constructed in 1690 with the proceeds of the lucrative trade with the Americas. It was built by the family of the admiral of the Spanish treasure fleetSpanish treasure fleet
The Spanish treasure fleets was a convoy system adopted by the Spanish Empire from 1566 to 1790...
, the so-called Fleet of the Indies, Don Diego de Barrios. The exterior is sheathed in exquisite red and white Genoan marble, prepared in the workshops of Andreoli, and mounted by the master, García Narváez. The colonnaded portico, the grand staircase under the cupola, and the hall on the main floor are architectural features of great nobility and beauty. The shield of the Barrios family appears on the second-floor balcony.
Old customs house
Within the plan of reforms of the walls that protect the flank of the port of Cádiz projects the construction of three identical and next buildings to each other: the Customs, the House of Hiring and the Consulate. Of only the three it is executed first, of neoclassic, sober style and of ample and balanced proportions. The works began in 1765 under the direction of Juan Caballero at a cost of 7,717,200 realSpanish real
The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...
es.
Palacio de Congresos
Cádiz's superbly refurbished tobacco factoryTobacco Factory
The Tobacco Factory is the last remaining part of the old Wills Tobacco site on Raleigh Road, Southville, Bristol. It was saved from demolition by the architect George Ferguson and through his vision has become a model of urban regeneration...
offers excellent international conference and trade-show facilities. Home to the third annual MAST Conference and trade-show (12 to 14 November 2008)
Roman theatre
The Roman theatre was discovered in 1980, in the El Pópulo district, after a fire had destroyed some old warehouses, revealing a layer of construction that was judged to be the foundations of some medieval buildings; the foundations of these buildings had been built, in turn, upon much more ancient stones, hand-hewn limestone of a Roman characterLatin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
. Systematic excavations have revealed a largely intact Roman theatre.
The theatre, constructed by order of Lucius Cornelius Balbus (minor)
Lucius Cornelius Balbus (minor)
Lucius Cornelius Balbus , received Roman citizenship at the same time as his uncle....
during the 1st century BC, is the second largest Roman theatre in the world, surpassed only by the theater of Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, south of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
, in his Epistulae ad Familiares ("Letters to his friends"), wrote of its use by Balbus for personal propaganda.
Pylons of Cadiz
The Pylons of CadizPylons of Cádiz
The Pylons of Cádiz, also known as the Towers of Cádiz, are two tall pylons supporting a double-circuit 132 kV three-phase AC powerline over the bay of Cádiz, Spain starting at Puerto Real Substation at to the substation of the former Cadiz Thermal Power Station situated on the peninsula upon...
are electricity pylon
Electricity pylon
A transmission tower is a tall structure, usually a steel lattice tower, used to support an overhead power line. They are used in high-voltage AC and DC systems, and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes...
s of unusual design, one on either side of the Bay of Cadiz
Bay of Cadiz
Bay of Cadiz may refer to:*Bay of Cádiz, a body of water off the province of Cádiz, Spain*Bay of Cádiz , a comarca in the province of Cádiz, Spain*Gulf of Cádiz, the arm of the Atlantic Ocean stretching from the waters south of Portugal...
, used to support huge electric-power cables. The pylons are 158 metres high and designed for two circuits
Electrical network
An electrical network is an interconnection of electrical elements such as resistors, inductors, capacitors, transmission lines, voltage sources, current sources and switches. An electrical circuit is a special type of network, one that has a closed loop giving a return path for the current...
. The very unconventional construction consists of a narrow frustum
Frustum
In geometry, a frustum is the portion of a solid that lies between two parallel planes cutting it....
steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
framework with one crossbar at the top of each one for the insulators.
Carranza Bridge
La Pepa Bridge
La Pepa BridgeLa Pepa bridge
La Pepa Bridge, officially "La Pepa" and also named the second bridge to Cadiz or new access to Cadiz. It will cross the Bay of Cadiz linking Cadiz with Puerto Real in mainland Spain. When the bridge is finished it will be the longest bridge in Spain and the longest span cable-stayed in this...
, officially "La Pepa" and also named the second bridge to Cadiz or new access to Cadiz. It will cross the Bay of Cadiz
Bay of Cadiz
Bay of Cadiz may refer to:*Bay of Cádiz, a body of water off the province of Cádiz, Spain*Bay of Cádiz , a comarca in the province of Cádiz, Spain*Gulf of Cádiz, the arm of the Atlantic Ocean stretching from the waters south of Portugal...
linking Cadiz with Puerto Real
Puerto Real
Puerto Real is a seaport in southern Spain, in the province of Cádiz and the autonomous region of Andalusia. , it had a population 40,667....
in mainland Spain. When the bridge is finished it will be the longest bridge in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the longest span cable-stayed in this country.
City Gates
Las Puertas de Tierra originated in the 16th century, although much of the original work has disappeared. Once consisting of several layers of walls, only one of these remain today. By the 20th century it was necessary to remodel the entrance to the Old City to accommodate modern traffic. Today, the two side-by-side arches cut into the wall serve as one of the primary entrances to the city.El Arco de los Blancos is the gate to the Populo district, built around 1300. It was the principal gate to the medieval town. The gate is named after the family of Felipe Blanco who built a chapel (now disappeared) above the gate.
El Arco de la Rosa ("Rose Arch") is a gate carved into the medieval walls next to the cathedral. It is named after captain Gaspar de la Rosa, who lived in the city during the 18th century. The gate was renovated in 1973.
Fortress of Candelaria
The Baluarte de la Candelaria (fortress or stronghold of CandlemasPresentation of Jesus at the Temple
The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which falls on 2 February, celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Eastern Catholic Churches, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante...
) is a military fortification. Taking advantage of a natural elevation of land, it was constructed in 1672 at the initiative of the governor, Diego Caballero de Illescas. Protected by a seaward-facing wall that had previously served as a seawall, Candelaria's cannons were in a position to command the channels approaching the port of Cádiz. In more recent times, the edifice has served as a headquarters for the corps of military engineer
Military engineer
In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...
s and as the home to the army's homing pigeons, birds used to carry written messages over hostile terrain. Thoroughly renovated, it is now used as a cultural venue. There has been some discussion of using it to house a maritime museum
Maritime museum
A maritime museum is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water...
, but, at present, it is designated for use as a permanent exposition space.
San Sebastián
The Castle of San Sebastián is also a military fortification, and is situated at the end of a road leading out from the Caleta beach. It was built in 1706. Today the castle remains unused, although its future uses remain much debated...Santa Catalina
The Castle of Santa Catalina is also a military fortification, and is situated at the end of the Caleta beach. It was built in 1598 following the English sacking of Cadiz two years earlier. Recently renovated, today it is used for exhibitions and concerts.Notable people born in Cadiz and Cadiz province
- Manuel de FallaManuel de FallaManuel de Falla y Matheu was a Spanish Andalusian composer of classical music. With Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Joaquín Turina he is one of Spain's most important musicians of the first half of the 20th century....
, composer - Daniel GüizaDaniel GüizaDaniel González Güiza is a Spanish footballer who plays for Getafe CF in La Liga, as a striker.A late bloomer, he made a name for himself at the age of 27, being crowned La Liga topscorer with Mallorca...
, football striker for Fenerbahce and the national team - George MeadeGeorge MeadeGeorge Gordon Meade was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer involved in coastal construction, including several lighthouses. He fought with distinction in the Second Seminole War and Mexican-American War. During the American Civil War he served as a Union general, rising from...
, Union general of The American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25... - Camarón de la IslaCamarón de la IslaCamarón de la Isla , was the stage name of a spanish flamenco singer José Monje Cruz who is sometimes also credited as Camarón de la Isla....
, flamenco Singer - Paco de LucíaPaco de LucíaPaco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
, flamenco Guitarist - Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, Roman agronomic writer
- Lucius Cornelius Balbus, consul
- Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Younger, general
- José Celestino MutisJosé Celestino Mutis-External links:*** at The Catholic Encyclopedia official site...
, botanist and mathematician - Javier RuibalJavier RuibalJavier Ruibal is a Spanish musician and songwriter.-Biography:...
musician, singer, songwriter - Esteban Piñero CamachoEsteban Piñero CamachoEsteban Piñero Camacho is a member of the boyband D'NASH. He is known simply as Basty and is the sporty one of the band.- D'Nash :...
, known as Basty, member of the Spanish band D'NASHD'NASHD'Nash is a Spanish boy band, best known for representing Spain in the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest.-Members:* Basty - real name: Esteban Piñero Camacho - born 28 February 1981, Cádiz... - Niña PastoriNiña PastoriNiña Pastori is a Spanish flamenco singer . She was born María Rosa García García in San Fernando on 15 January 1978. The youngest of five siblings and only daughter of a military man and gypsy flamenco singer 'La Pastori', she started her artistic career at a young age...
, or María Rosa García García, flamenco singer.
Beaches
Cadiz, situated on a peninsula, is home to some of Spain's most beautiful beaches.La Playa de la Caleta
La Caleta, Spain
La Caleta is a beach located in the historical center of the city of Cádiz, Spain. It is a natural harbor by which Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans penetrated historically...
is the best-loved beach of Cadiz. It has always been in Carnival songs, due to its unequalled beauty and its proximity to the Barrio de la Viña. It is the beach of the Old City, situated between two castles, San Sebastian and Santa Catalina. It is around four hundred meters long and thirty meters wide at low tide
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
. La Caleta and the boulevard show a lot of resemblance to parts of Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, the capital city of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, like the malecon
Malecon
Malecón is a word used in Spanish-speaking countries for a stone-built embankment or esplanade along a waterfront.It may refer to*Malecón, Havana, Cuba*Malecón 2000, Guayaquil, Ecuador*Malecón, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico...
. Therefore it served as the set for several of the Cuban scenes in the beginning of the James Bond movie
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
.
La Playa de la Victoria, in the newer part of Cadiz, is the beach most visited by tourists and natives of Cádiz. It is about three kilometers long, and it has an average width of fifty meters of sand. The moderate swell
Swell (ocean)
A swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series surface gravity waves that is not generated by the local wind. Swell waves often have a long wavelength but this varies with the size of the water body, e.g. rarely more than 150 m in the Mediterranean, and from event to event, with...
and the absence of rocks allow family bathing. It is separated from the city by an avenue; on the landward side of the avenue, there are many shops and restaurants.
La Playa de Santa María del Mar or Playita de las Mujeres is a small beach in Cadiz, situated between La Playa de Victoria and La Playa de la Caleta. It features excellent views of the old district of Cadiz.
Others beaches are Torregorda, Cortadura and El Chato.
Carnival
The Carnival of Cadiz is one of the best known carnivalCarnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
s in the world. Throughout the year, carnival-related activities are almost constant in the city; there are always rehearsals, public demonstrations, and contest
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
s of various kinds.
The city of Cadiz is often noted for having the most humorous people in Spain. Consequently, the central themes of the carnival are sharp criticism
Criticism
Criticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another . To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.Another meaning of...
s, often of a political nature, clever plays on words
Word play
Word play or wordplay is a literary technique in which the words that are used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement...
, and the off-beat imagination displayed in revelers' costumes, which, unlike in carnival venues elsewhere in the world, do not emphasize the glamorous or scandalous.
The Carnival of Cadiz is famous for the satirical groups called chirigotas, who perform comical musical pieces
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
. Typically, a chirigota is composed of seven to twelve performers who sing, act and improvise accompanied by guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, kazoo
Kazoo
The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
s, a bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, and a variety of noise-makers. Other than the chirigotas, there are many other groups of performers: choruses; ensembles called comparsas, who sing in close harmony
Close harmony
Close harmony is an arrangement of the notes of chords within a narrow range. It is different from open harmony or voicing in that it uses each part on the closest harmonizing note , while the open voicing uses a broader pitch array expanding the harmonic range past the octave...
much like the barbershop quartets of African-American culture or the mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
s of Mexico; cuartetos, consisting of four (or sometimes three) performers alternating dramatic parodies and humorous songs; and romanceros, storytellers
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
who recite tales in verse. These diverse spectacles turn the city into a colorful and popular open-air theater for two entire weeks in February.
The (the official association of carnival groups) sponsors a contest in the Gran Teatro Falla (see above) each year where chirigotas and other performers compete for prizes. This is the climactic event of the Cadiz carnival.
Gastronomy
The gastronomy of Cadiz includes stews and sweets typical of comarca and the city.
|
Pestiños A pestiño is a Christmas pastry that is popular in Andalusia and other regions of Southern Spain. It is a piece of dough, deep fried in olive oil and glazed with honey or sugar.-Characteristics:Normally the dough is flavoured with sesame... |
Ropa vieja Ropa vieja, which is Spanish for "Old Clothes," is a popular dish of the Canary Islands, Cadiz, Greater Miami and the Caribbean, especially Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic... |
Twin towns — sister cities
Cadiz is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
Medway
Medway
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...
, UK Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
Tangiers, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
Santos, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
Dakhla
Dakhla, Western Sahara
-External links:**...
, Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
Indio
Indio, California
Indio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, located in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, and east of Los Angeles. It is about north of Mexicali, Baja California on the U.S.-Mexican border...
, USA Byblos
Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
: A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
, Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
, Huelva
Huelva
Huelva is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is located along the Gulf of Cadiz coast, at the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers. According to the 2010 census, the city has a population of 149,410 inhabitants. The...
, Móstoles
Móstoles
Móstoles is the second-largest city in population belonging to the autonomous community of Madrid. It is located 18 kilometres southwest from central Madrid. Móstoles was for a long time only a small village, but expanded rapidly in the twentieth century....
, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital , second-most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 222,417 in 2009...
, Torrevieja
Torrevieja
Torrevieja is a seaside city and municipality located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante, in south-eastern Spain.Torrevieja lies about 30 miles south of the city of Alicante and has a population of 104,000...
Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
: Cartagena de Indias, La Dorada, Santa Fe de Antioquia, Guaduas
Guaduas
Guaduas is a city in Colombia, in the province of Lower Magdalena department of Cundinamarca.-Geographical Context:At about 117 km from Bogotá. It is an agricultural and tourist center of some importance. It has about 33,000 inhabitants...
, Honda, Ambalema
Ambalema
Ambalema is a municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. The population of Ambalema was 7,277 as of the 1993 census....
, San Sebastián de Mariquita & Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
: México DF, Puebla
Puebla
Puebla officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla....
, San Pedro Cholula, & Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
See also
- Battle of Cadiz (disambiguation)
- Cadiz CFCádiz CFCádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1910, it currently plays in Segunda División B - Group 4, holding home games at Estadio Ramón de Carranza, with a 22,000-seat capacity.Salvadoran legend Mágico González, who...
, football team - Costa de la LuzCosta de la LuzThe Costa de la Luz is a section of the Andalusian coast in Spain facing the Atlantic; it extends from Tarifa in the south, along the coasts of the Province of Cádiz and the Province of Huelva, to the mouth of the Guadiana River....
- List of mayors of Cadiz
- List of streets and squares in Cadiz