Cádiz - the oldest city in Europe?

Cádiz - the city

The city of Cádiz lays claim to being the oldest city in Europe - the Phoenicians allegedly founded the place in 1104BC.

Most of modern day Cádiz is not that old, however, but the architecture is nevertheless splendid and mostly dates from the 18th century. Only the ruin of the Roman theatre provides evidence that the city is much older than it looks.

Cádiz - Plaza de la San Juan de Dios

Manuel de Falla portrait
in the Cathedral crypt

There are many baroque buildings including the Hospital de Mujeres whose main attraction is a painting by El Greco - the 'Extasis de San Francisco'. Other places of note are the Museo de Cádiz and the Gran Teatro Falla, named in honour of composer Manuel de Falla, who is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral. There are lovely places to walk in the city like the palm-fringed Plaza San Juan de Dios and the bustling Plaz de las Flores.

The jewel of the city, though, is the cathedral - the Catedral Nueva looks particularly splendid from the waterfront. Its dome glitters like gold in the sunshine but in reality is made of yellow glazed tiles.

Cádiz Cathedral © Robert Bovington

Cádiz - the province 

Cádiz is also the capital of the province of the same name - one of the eight provinces of Andalucía. Other important cities are Jerez, famous for its sherry and Algeciras. Tarifa is an interesting place and is the most southerly town in Europe. It is also a tad windy - handy for those that go there for the windsurfing!

Tarifa - old town gate © Robert Bovington

But most of all the province of Cádiz has tremendous scenery and dramatic landscapes. It is a nature lover's delight with many protected areas including the Sierra de Grazalema and the Parque Natural de Doñana.

Sierra de Grazalema © Robert Bovington

Robert Bovington



more blogs by Robert Bovington...

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"bits and bobs"	http://bovingtonbitsandblogs.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

Cádiz

© Robert Bovington
Cádiz - the city

The city of Cádiz lays claim to being the oldest city in Europe - the Phoenicians allegedly founded the place in 1104BC.

Most of modern day Cádiz is not that old, however, but the architecture is nevertheless splendid and mostly dates from the 18th century. Only the ruin of the Roman theatre provides evidence that the city is much older than it looks.

Falla - portrait in Cádiz Cathedral

There are many baroque buildings including the Hospital de Mujeres whose main attraction is a painting by El Greco - the 'Extasis de San Francisco'. Other places of note are the Museo de Cádiz and the Gran Teatro Falla, named in honour of composer Manuel de Falla, who is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral. There are lovely places to walk in the city like the palm-fringed Plaza San Juan de Dios and the bustling Plaz de las Flores.

The jewel of the city, though, is the cathedral - the Catedral Nueva looks particularly splendid from the waterfront. Its dome glitters like gold in the sunshine but in reality is made of yellow glazed tiles.

 

Cádiz Cathedral - view from seafront

Cádiz - the province 

Cádiz is also the capital of the province of the same name - one of the eight provinces of Andalucía. Other important cities are Jerez, famous for its sherry and Algeciras. Tarifa is an interesting place and is the most southerly town in Europe. It is also a tad windy - handy for those that go there for the windsurfing!

Tarifa

 

But most of all the province of Cádiz has tremendous scenery and dramatic landscapes. It is a nature lover's delight with many protected areas including the Sierra de Grazalema and the Parque Natural de Doñana.

Sierra de Grazalema

www.tablondeanuncios.com

more blogs by Robert Bovington...

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"bits and bobs"	http://bovingtonbitsandblogs.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

Tarifa

If you want to see Morocco without actually risking life and limb there, go to Tarifa - the coast of North Africa and the Rif mountains are clearly visible from this the most southerly of towns in mainland Spain!

Seriously though, Tarifa is an interesting place to visit with many features that reflect its historic past. Its geographic location has played a big part in its history - it is the southernmost town of Europe and only 8 miles from North Africa - so it has been pretty much open to all manner of civilisations since the dawn of time.  

Tarifa got its name from a Berber called Tarif ibn Malik and, in the 10th century, under the rule of Abd-al-Rahman III, it became an important town. Its history goes much further back than that, however - archaeological discoveries have included Bronze Age burial sites. Later, Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians all settled in the area but it was the Romans who actually founded Tarifa in the 1st century. And then the Moors came - in AD710 a Muslim expeditionary force crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and, led by their leader Tarif ibn Malik, they took Tarifa. It was a trial run for the full-scale invasion of Spain a year later. Several centuries of Moorish rule followed before Sancho IV of Castile captured the town from the Moslems in 1292. Since the Christian Reconquest, Tarifa has been a border town, initially with the Kingdom of Granada and later it had Berber pirates to contend with. In the 18th century it was a military enclave in the face of the English occupation of Gibraltar.

Much of Tarifa exhibits a distinctly Moorish character with its narrow, winding streets and whitewashed houses. Entry into the old quarter is through a particularly find archway - the Puerta de Jerez. There are a number of interesting religious buildings in the town - like the Gothic-Mudéjar Chapel of Santiago; the Convent of San Francisco, and the churches of Santa María and San Mateo but the most important building is Castillo de Guzman. This 10th-century medieval fortress is known as the Castle of Guzmán the Good. It was named after Alfonso Pérez Guzmán who in no way would have won the 'Father of the Year' award - apparently, he threw down his dagger to besieging Moorish forces for them to execute his son who had been held hostage. He did this rather than surrender the city to the marauding Arabs.

So the town has a fair bit of history but it is worth a visit for its sandy beaches - there are over 20 miles of them! However, Tarifa is rather windy - it is the windiest place in Europe, which makes it ideal for windsurfers and, for most of the year, the long sandy beaches and Atlantic rollers are a riot of coloured sails.

Tarifa

If you want to see Morocco without actually risking life and limb, go to Tarifa - the coast of North Africa and the Rif mountains are clearly visible from this the most southerly of towns in mainland Spain!

Seriously though, Tarifa is an interesting place to visit with many features that reflect its historic past. Its geographic location has played a big part in its history - it is the southernmost town of Europe and only 8 miles from North Africa - so it has been pretty much open to all manner of civilisations since the dawn of time.  Tarifa got its name from a Berber called Tarif ibn Malik and, in the 10th century, under the rule of Abd-al-Rahman III, it became an important town. Its history goes much further back than that, however - archaeological discoveries have included Bronze Age burial sites. Later, Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians all settled in the area but it was the Romans who actually founded Tarifa in the 1st century. 

And then the Moors came - in AD710 a Muslim expeditionary force crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and, led by their leader Tarif ibn Malik, they took Tarifa. It was a trial run for the full-scale invasion of Spain a year later. Several centuries of Moorish rule followed before Sancho IV of Castile captured the town from the Moslems in 1292. Since the Christian Reconquest, Tarifa has been a border town, initially with the Kingdom of Granada and later it had Berber pirates to contend with. In the 18th century it was a military enclave in the face of the English occupation of Gibraltar.

Much of Tarifa exhibits a distinctly Moorish character with its narrow, winding streets and whitewashed houses. Entry into the old quarter is through a particularly fine archway - the Puerta de Jerez. There are a number of interesting religious buildings in the town - like the Gothic-Mudéjar Chapel of Santiago; the Convent of San Francisco, and the churches of Santa María and San Mateo but the most important building is Castillo de Guzman. This 10th-century medieval fortress is known as the Castle of Guzmán the Good. It was named after Alfonso Pérez Guzmán who in no way would have won the 'Father of the Year' award - apparently, he threw down his dagger to besieging Moorish forces for them to execute his son who had been held hostage. He did this rather than surrender the city to the marauding Arabs.

So the town has a fair bit of history but it is worth a visit for its sandy beaches - there are over 20 miles of them! However, Tarifa is rather windy - it is the windiest place in Europe, which makes it ideal for windsurfers and, for most of the year, the long sandy beaches and Atlantic rollers are a riot of coloured sails.

extract from “Spanish Impressions” by Robert Bovington

ISBN 978-1-4452-2543-2 available from www.lulu.com

some pics: