Cadiz, Spain

Cadiz city, on the western coast of southern Spain, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. Its earliest archaeological remains date back to the 9^th century BC, around the time it was founded as a Phoenician outpost. Since then, it has played an important role as a sea port for trade and exploration and a strategic naval base amongst a host of cultures and civilisations, including the Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors, and Spanish to name a few. Situated on a long, narrow peninsula extending into the Gulf of Cadiz, it has long provided access to the Atlantic Ocean and beyond.

Today its rich three-thousand-year history is laid out for visitors to explore. The Plaza de la Catedral (home to the cathedral and the Baroque Church of Santiago), the quaint old town, the castles of Santa Catalina and San Sebastian, Plaza de Sevilla, Plaza de Espana, and the city’s beautiful beaches (particularly La Caleta Beach) all make Cadiz a perfect holiday destination! Plus the towns of Jerez de la Frontera, Tarifa, Vejer de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and more are all located in Cadiz Province, all within easy reach.

On Day 21 of our 24-day Small Group Tour of Spain & Portugal, we travel from Seville to Jerez de la Frontera and on to Cadiz, with time to see the city at our own pace before returning to Seville; our Seville, Jerez and Cadiz itinerary describes the day. The tour is designed for mature travellers who would like to learn about history and culture with like-minded people in a small group of up to 16, using the knowledge and expertise of our Program Leader and local guides.

Read on for more information on the history of Cadiz to assist your tour!

The dome and a bell tower of Cadiz Cathedral, looking out over the old town to the Atlantic.

Phoenicians & Carthaginians

Cadiz is among the oldest cities on Europe’s Atlantic coast. Legend attributes its foundation to 1104 BCE, although this is improbable, with a birthdate sometime in the ninth century BCE more accepted amongst historians.

It was founded as Gadir by Phoenicians from Tyre (in modern-day Lebanon) as the westernmost Phoenician outpost, used to launch expeditions to southwest Britain and northwest Africa and to broaden trade routes. The Phoenicians were attracted to the area by sources of tin in Iberia and in further reaches of the Atlantic, as well as the silver-rich realm of Tartessos in the southern Iberian hinterland. The city flourished in the years up to about 550 BCE, growing to be the capital of the Phoenician trade network, with goods filtering through from as far as Cyprus and Phoenicia itself.

The rocky shore at Tarifa, in Cadiz Province, on the Strait of Gibraltar.

After that, pressure in the East from Persians and Assyrians damaged the trade of the Phoenicians within and beyond the Mediterranean. This then helped the Carthaginians to take control of the weakened city in about 500 BCE, picking up the pieces and creating their own flourishing trade network.

In 237 BCE, still under Carthaginian rule, the general Hamilcar Barca used the city as a naval base of operations in his campaign to subjugate the Iberian tribes. Then, during the Second Punic War (218-202 BCE), Hamilcar’s son Hannibal visited Cadiz to make offerings at its temple of Melqart before setting out from New Carthage (Cartagena) on his famous march across the Pyrenees and the Alps to attack the Romans in Italy.

Romans, Visigoths & The Moors

The Romans themselves landed in the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BCE, at the start of the Second Punic War, and in 206 BCE the general Scipio Africanus crushed the Carthaginians and their Iberian allies at Ilipa. That same year Cadiz went over to the Romans by agreement, and the city became known as Gades. Julius Caesar then granted Roman citizenship to its inhabitants in 49 BCE.

Cadiz prospered during the Roman times as a port and naval base and became one of the wealthiest cities in the Empire. According to the geographer Strabo, its population was second only to that of Rome, and a census of his day counted 500 equites (members of the wealthy upper class) in the city, a number matched among the cities of Italy only by Padua.

The Roman settlement was famous for its salted fish and fish sauce (garum) as well as the skill of its dancing women. The type of dance appears to have been something of a cross between modern Middle Eastern belly dancing and Andalusian flamenco. It was highly erotic and had a hypnotic effect on the audience.

A theatre, an amphitheatre and an aqueduct were built during this period. The ruins of the Roman theatre, built in the first century BCE by Lucius Cornelius Balbus the Younger, a native of the city who had served under Julius Caesar, were rediscovered in 1980. It is the oldest Roman theatre in Spain and one of the largest in the Roman world.

Remains of the Roman Theatre of the ancient Gades in Hispania, the current city of Cadiz, Andalusia, Spain.

As Roman power began to decline in the third century CE, Gades too entered a period of significant decline, losing its role as an important commercial and strategic base. Much of the original city was then completely destroyed as the Visigoths overthrew Roman power in Hispania Baetica in the 400s.

The Middle Ages

The city was conquered by numerous powers during the Middle Ages. At first the Byzantines conquered the site in 551 as part of the province of Spania. It then fell back to the Visigoths in 572 following Leovigild’s conquest, before the invading Moorish troops of Tariq Ibn Ziyad took over in 711 after the Battle of Guadalete. During this period, the big open city slowly gave way to a small walled city, which was a common style in the Middle Ages.

Under Moorish rule, the city was renamed Jazīrat Qādis, whence the modern Spanish name was derived. It was not a prominent city under the Moors, however, and was almost deserted when King Alfonso X of Castile claimed it in 1262.

Alfonso X subsequently implemented a number of measures that repopulated the city and led to a resurgence. This included the concession of the title of city, and the establishment of an episcopal headquarters and monopoly of trade with Africa. Doing so ensured ties to Genoa and positioned Cadiz as a key point in European trade.

Age of Prosperity

Under the Spanish crown, Cadiz entered a renewed age of prosperity as a port city, especially from the time of the Spanish voyages to America. This is where Christopher Columbus set sail on his second and fourth voyages to the Americas at the turn of the 16^th century, and the city became an important base for the Spanish treasure fleets. The Spanish conquistadores also departed from here later during the colonial times. In time it became one of the richest ports in Europe, with a great wealth of silver flowing in from Mexico and Peru.

Consequently, the city became a major target of Spain’s enemies. During the 16^th century it successfully repelled a series of raids by Barbary pirates, but in 1587 the Englishman Sir Francis Drake managed to occupy the harbour for three days, capturing six ships of the Spanish fleet and destroying 31 others. The city was sacked by an English and Dutch fleet in 1596, but it was rebuilt, fortified, and was able to repel later attacks in 1625 and 1702.

It was from this point, during the 18th century, that Cadiz entered into a golden age of economic growth. In 1717, when the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) moved here from Seville, the city acquired monopoly rights over American trade with Spain, linking itself both culturally and politically with the new world and once again becoming extremely wealthy. It soon became one of Spain’s greatest and most cosmopolitan cities and home to trading communities from many countries.

Today this past is still visible in its colonial town architecture of long and narrow streets, sunny squares, and majestic gardens. Many of today’s historic buildings in the Old City also date from this era.

Aerial view over the roofs of the old town of Cadiz, Andalusia, Spain

The 19th Century

During the Peninsular War (1808-14), in which Britain fought Napoleon’s efforts to control the Iberian Peninsula, Cadiz was one of the few Spanish cities to resist the invading French. During the war it served as the capital of all of Spain not under the control of Napoleon, host to Spain’s military high command and Cortes (parliament). Here, in the Church of San Felipe Neri, the first Spanish constitution was signed in 1812.

King Ferdinand VII rejected the constitution when he was restored to the throne in 1814. The citizens of the town then revolted in 1820 to re-establish the constitution and the revolution spread successfully, until in 1823 the liberal government took Ferdinand VII to Cadiz as its prisoner. At this point, the French came to the king’s aid and secured his release in the Battle of Trocadero. With this, Ferdinand VII returned to the throne, resuming his absolute rule and suppressing liberalism for some time.

French troops storming the Trocadero at Cadiz on 31 August 1823, which ended Spain’s liberal revolution of 1820–1823.

Nevertheless, Cadiz remained a centre of liberal and even radical politics. It was once again the seat of a revolution in 1868, which successfully overthrew and ousted Queen Isabella II. The revolutionaries kept the monarchy, however, and two years later the Cortes in Madrid chose a new king, Amadeo of Savoy. Radical ferment rose again in the province in the early 1880s, when the authorities blamed a wave of crimes on a supposed anarchist secret society, the Mano Negra (Black Hand), and seven men were executed in Jerez de la Frontera in 1884.

With the loss of Spain’s colonies in the Americas, the kingdom experienced a massive blow to its trade from which Cadiz never recovered. The city experienced a decline in relevance in national affairs, which was later accelerated by the disasters of the Spanish American War (1898).

Modern History

Cadiz played an important role during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) as a support for the Nationalists and port of entry for reinforcements from Spanish Morocco. In 1947 the city was badly damaged from an explosion at a naval mine and depth-charge store. The explosion was heard at least up to a distance of 120km and 150 people officially died.

Today Cadiz, often called Spain’s oldest city, still stands as one of the most beautiful in the West. Key sights include Phoenician and Roman archaeological sites, mansions, palaces, grand plazas, the old town, its cathedral, La Caleta Beach, and typical barrios such as La Viña or Santa Maria.

Cadiz Cathedral, built between 1722 and 1838, seen from the seafront of the Campo del Sur.

Seeing Cadiz on our Small Group Tour of Spain & Portugal

On our Small Group Tour of Spain & Portugal, Cadiz is part of a day trip from Seville, where the group stays for Days 19 to 21. Day 20 is spent with a local guide at the Alcazar, the cathedral and the Giralda, with a flamenco show in the evening. On Day 21 we head south to Jerez de la Frontera, which we explore on foot, and visit a sherry bodega for a tour and tasting. We then continue to Cadiz, where the time is our own to walk the old town, the cathedral square and the seafront before we return to Seville. Our Spain and Portugal itinerary follows the full 24 days from Barcelona to Granada.

During this small group tour, we explore Spain and Portugal’s fairy-tale natural beauty, their ancient Roman heritage, their World Heritage Sites, and world-famous cities, all with some truly spectacular scenery along the way. Although divided by history and language, these close neighbours once possessed mighty empires bringing them great wealth which they then used to create many of the monuments we admire today.

The Iberian Peninsula is renowned for the spectacular views of its scenery, its red wines of Rioja, and exotic food. Our Spain and Portugal tour explores the Iberian Peninsula’s intricate history and incredible art and architecture as we stroll and wander through its streets. Your Odyssey Program Leader leads the way, assisted by local guides for guided sightseeing in key places such as Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, Braga and Lisbon, ensuring you have a great trip.

Odyssey Traveller has been serving global travellers since 1983 with educational tours of the history, culture, and architecture of our destinations designed for mature travellers. We specialise in offering small group tours partnering with a local tour guide at each destination to provide a relaxed and comfortable pace and atmosphere that sets us apart from larger tour groups. Tours are for small groups of up to 16 people, and the price includes entry fees, tips, daily breakfast and many dinners. For more information, click here, and head to this page to make a booking.

Articles about Spain published by Odyssey Traveller:

The following list of articles published by Odyssey Traveller for mature travellers to maximise their knowledge and enjoyment of Spain when visiting:

• Questions About Spain
• 15 of the best places in Spain to visit.
• Travel notes for Barcelona
• Ten of the best books published on Spain
• Ten of the Best art galleries in Europe to visit.
• Spain and Portugal Itinerary: Barcelona to Granada in 24 Days

External articles to assist you on your visit to Spain:

• Top things to do in Cádiz province: Attractions & Travel Tips
• On the Tapas Trail: Where to Eat and Drink in Cádiz, Spain
• The spirit of southern Spain: Reasons to visit Andalucia.
• Ten must see sights in Madrid.