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Spain | Travel | Regions | Cities | Coasts | Islands | Culture |
Spain / Andalusia / Costa de la Luz / Cadiz  |
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| Destinations in Cadiz | |
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The city of Cadiz is situated on a peninsula in the middle of a bay. This peculiar shape of the coastline, the silvery water of the Atlantic Ocean is washed, with a beautiful view and has helped to Cadiz nicknamed "the silver cup".Cadiz is a particularly friendly and cheerful city. A walk on the beach promenade gives us the impression to be in the "Malecon" in Havana, Cuba: on one side, the boisterous sea, on the other side the colourful historical buildings. The inhabitants are as well particularly friendly and their sense if humour is well known in Spain. Their cheerful carnival celebrations are famous in all the country. Thanks to its strategic location, halfway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, Cadiz has an old and interesting history. The city was founded by the Phoenicians with the former name of "Gadir" (which means "fortified city") and it was the most important Phoenician settlement inside the kingdom of Tartessos. After the takeover of the city by the Carthaginian, Cadiz was the starting point for Hannibal in his original campaign over the Alps against Rome.  As Hannibal was only temporarily successful, "Gadir" was soon take over by the Romans, and its name changed to "Gades". Julius Caesar gave "Gades" the title of "civitas foederata", an allied community of Rome, and Cadiz blossomed again. In that time very important monuments were erected; an amphitheatre, aqueducts (water pipes) and numerous other buildings. The important past of the city may still be appreciated in many sights: The Museum of Cadiz, on the Plaza de la Mina, is divided into three sections: archaeology, art and ethnography. On the ground floor we can admire important Phoenician and Roman remains, including valuable Phoenician sarcophagi  .In the archaeological site Casa del Obispo we find the remains of Cadiz from the Phoenician-Punic period to the eighteenth century.The Roman Theatre from the 1st century BC, was the largest Roman Theatre in Spain. Today, however, we can only see parts of it, since the medieval city was built over it, using the theatre as a kind of building material for the houses.The Roman aqueduct supplied the city with water coming from the sources of Tempul, 70 km away from Cadiz. Remains of this aqueduct are still preserved at the "Plaza de Blas Infante". The remains of a Roman factory from the first Century BC, where salted fish was produced, are the evidence of the economic boom at that time. The Columbarios Romanos are the remains of the Roman necropolis. Through an audio-visual Program visitors are taught about the Roman funeral cult. In the historical center of Cadiz, we find many historical monuments, including churches, palaces, as well as civilian and military buildings from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century. That is why we will only mention a few ones because of their beauty: the Cathedral of Santa Cruz (from the Tower "Torre de Poniente" we have marvellous views of the city and the Atlantic Ocean), the Carcel Real (former" Royal Prison "), the Theater Gran Teatro Falla , the Town Hall , the monument Monumento a las Cortes de Cadiz and the church Iglesia de Santiago. |