£74.14

Tourist Information

Cadiz

Cadiz stands on a peninsula jutting out into a bay, and is almost entirely surrounded by water. Perhaps the oldest city in Europe, it was held by the Phoenicians, it was later controlled by the Carthaginians, until it became a thriving Roman port. It attained great splendour in the early 16th century as a launching point for the journey to the newly discovered lands of America. In the early 19th century Cadiz became the bastion of Spain's anti-monarchist, liberal movement, as a result of which the country's first Constitution was declared here in 1812.

Some of the city's 18th century walls still stand, such as the Landward Gate. Worth a visit are the city's Cathedral and churches of Santa Cruz and San Felipe Neri, which is famous throughout Spain as the place where, in defiance of Napoleon's siege, the provisional government was set up with its own liberal Constitution.

The old city looks quite Moorish in appearance and is intriguing with narrow cobbled streets opening onto small squares. The golden cupola of the cathedral looms high above long white houses. It just takes an hour to walk around the headlands where you can visit the entire old town and pass through some lovely parks with sweeping views of the bay.