Cadíz, Spain

Plaza de San Juan de Dios

Plaza de San Juan de Dios (above), Cadíz's largest square supports some vehicle access even though most of the old town is off limits to all but pedestrians. The area was created by filling in one of the sea channels that crossed the island and borders the tightly constricted medieval parts of the city.

After the (re)discovery of the Americas, a huge market pedaled goods extracted from the New World. A plaque here also commemorates Columbus's sailing from here for his 2nd voyage. (His fourth voyage also left from Cadíz).

Senor Colon wasn't the first big name here: Hannibal headquartered here before his assault on Rome during the Punic Wars and this town was where an ambitious climber named Julius Caesar held his first political office as quaestor in his early 30s.

The building at right, once a hospital, holds down a corner of the square of San Juan de Dios -- which was named after the religious order that ran the hospital starting in 1614. This building was built in 1678-88 and is in need of a little refurbishment.

Bell tower on hospital at plaza_del_san_juan_del_dios

Left: The relatively unadorned but lovely shaped bell tower of the old hospital of San Juan del Dios.

The religious order of brothers started in the 16th century in Granada at the opposite end of Andalusia from Cadíz. Today it runs hospitals throughout the world. Juan del Dios had all the trappings of a homeless man with mental problems when he started a hospital for people a lot like him. Today he'd probably have an underpass and a cardboard sign.

Ayuntamiento

Next to the old hospital rises another tower belonging to the town hall (Ayuntamiento ). It dominates the square of San Juan del Dios at the end of this inlaid marble street.

The first (lower) stage of the Ayuntamiento (town hall) de Cádiz was built in 1799. It's the work of Torcuato Benjumeda, considered by some to be the most important neo-classical architect in Andalusia. His unusual first name is also that of his godfather and teacher Torcuato Cayon who laid out this square. They and their various family members are responsible for many public buildings erected during Cadíz's heyday.

The passageway below leads through the facade of Torcuato Benjumeda's Ayuntamiento. Benjumeda was only 24 when his mentor Cayón died and he took over as Cadíz's master builder. He lived until almost age 80 and left his mark on much of Cadíz despite falling out of favor when his bullfight ring collapsed in 1820. On the borders of this square of San Juan Dios alone, he designed 19 houses.

Building Amaya

But Benjumeda had help such as this 1795 home for the Pazos Miranda family called Building Amaya (shown below). Miguel de Olivares designed this outstanding domestic academist (Spanish neoclassical) building.

Olivares served as one of the many architects on the long-abuilding Cadíz Cathedral. His home above fits into this square well unlike the tall headquarters for the Cadíz's newspaper (below)which surprising rises a dozen stories or so. To do that, builders must go through much sand to attach to the limestone bedrock -- a modern technique making this a rare high structure at the end of the Cadíz peninsula.

Fortunately such building is rare -- and the town can't expand by filling in the sea. Spain has banned that practice. So Cadíz's old town is pretty well constrained to its present penninsula and frozen in time. This pretty well caps the town's population and presents some economic challenges -- but it's a visual delight for tourists.

Doors and doorways

The overall feel of the Plaza de San Juan Dios is academicist/neoclassic but that doesn't stop modern architects from having a little fun with the doors -- especially only a few yards from the port.

But let's go look at some older doors in the old city called Populo -- where the Moors built their town on top of the Roman city.

Below are a couple of typical doors\ways built as entrances to the merchant's homes. Built mostly during Cadíz's peak in the 18th century; today 115 of these still stand in the old city. This one is the before picture as refurbishment is underway. (Note the purple line at the bottom of the left picture -- more on that later, it's quite important if you decide to visit Cadíz.)

The nearby doorway at above right shows what one looks like after restoration. (Perhaps a statue is missing from the niche?) Old guidebooks claim Cadíz has a decripit feel to it -- but not with all this refurbrishment going on.

Mi casa is your taxa

Members of the merchant guilds began building the

ir multipurpose homes when the center of the Spanish Colonial trade moved from Seville (whose river silted up) to Cadíz in 1717. This virtual monopoly gave the Crown 20% of the take, leaving plenty left to pump up the local economy and raise three story structures along the narrow streets.

The bureaucracy that ran the trade monopoly was called La Casa de Contratación (The House of Trade). It provided security, made maps (and kept them secret from outsiders), and trained future ship captains -- and, of course, collected that 20% tax. (Most things you buy in Europe today other than food have a tax hidden in the price of about 20%). One of La Casa's better known map makers and captains was a Florentine named Amerigo Vespucci who got naming rights to two continents.

Trade with the New World made Spain the richest nation in the world in the 16th and 17th centuries. By law, the Spanish colonies could only trade with a single port in Spain -- first Seville, then Cadíz. The ships sailed in convoys protected by the Spanish navy lest they be attacked by privateers, a form of state-sponsored piracy. Things were much different then!

Let's now walk deeper into the old city, past the Tobacco house and into some of the old squares.

The Convent of Santo Domingo

Above is a view of the Convent of Our Lady of the Rosary and Santo Domingo built soon after the English sacked the city at the end of the 16th century.

The picture below is of the Epistle entrance of the Convent with a 17th century depiction of Saint Dominic of Guzman between two coat of arms of his Dominican Order. This 12th

century Spaniard founded his order in France and it spread the devotion to the Rosary. His guys are also associated with the Inquisition, but we won't go there.

The Dominicans ran out of money and raised funds to finish by selling burial niches in the chapel to the wealthy merchants. Unfortunately this was closed to tourists.

The gospel door (shown below) is protected by a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary -- the patron of Cadíz. The interior of the church has been restored several times but the outside could use a little work.

The Tobacco Factory

Kitty corner to the Convent of Santo Domingo is the old Tobacco house, an impressive brick building with glazed tile roof and high chimney. Note the brickwork in its fence.

The Royal Tobacco Factory was established by the King in 1741 and eventually employed about 500 women. The building we see here is the result of a late 19th century renovation in the neo-Mudejar style popular in civil architecture at that time. (Note the red line at bottom of the right picture.)

Today what was once the largest factory in old town Cadíz serves as an exhibition hall. Note in the rear of the left picture is the first electrical clock in town show to Thomas Edison during his visit.

A dense place

Here's another elaborate portico -- today it leads into the Cadíz Provincial Archives.

Just a few yards from the Atlantic, Cadíz's old mansions screen the sun from falling on these narrow streets (below left); these confined spaces are relieved by squares usually anchored by a church such as this 17th century Saint Augustine church (below right) which served the now-closed convent of the same name. Its 1647 facade Genovese. The merchants and seaman of Genoa were all over this area including Columbus.

Fortunately cars are verboten on most of these cobblestones. Population density in the old city is among the highest in Europe and roughly equal to that of New York City.

Plaza San Francisco

Here's another typical square: the plaza of San Francisco.

The church in the background has naming rights. This was a convent whose supporting agricultural area was commandeered in the 19th century for a larger square called Plaza de Mina. Founded in 1566, this was home to Cadíz's Franciscans. Major renovations occurred when the 16th and 17th century wealth poured in from overseas including a dome and huge gold altarpiece.

Below is another view of San Francisco Plaza: Even though these building appear to be modernized, they maintain their "Indian Merchant" towers to allow occupants to see over rooftops to the port disgorging New World wealth.

Plaza de Mina

During the 19th century, much of the land belonging to the convents was appropriated to create city squares including the Plaza de Mina, made from the vegetable garden of the convent of San Francisco.

Despite some construction, this is a beautifully landscaped area surrounded by elegant homes and a bit of cafe life. Most of Cadíz's squares are vegetation challenged but this plaza holds its own and the vegetation reminds one of the verdant town squares found in the Hispanic Americas. To some extent, this is deliberate as exotic trees from the distant Spanish empire were planted here and parrots from Argentina were relocated as well.

Above is a typical Plaza de Mina edifice now part of the architectural school, the Colegio de Arquitectos on the west side of the Plaza de Mina.

Spain's most important modern composer, Manuel de Falla, who turned the flamenco into concert music, was born in a similar house on this square in 1876. His image decorated the Spanish currency's 100 peseta note before being replaced by the Euro. (He'd be worth about 85 cents in US dollars today). During Franco times, de Falla fled to Argentina. Today Cadíz's cathedral holds his remains and a square with adjoining concert hall holds his name ever dear to his native Cadíz.

The plaza was built in 1838, after Cadíz had reached its peak since the Spanish colonial empire was beginning to disintegrate as places like Mexico fought for independence against a Spain struggling to maintain its own against people like Napoleon whose troops occupied most of Spain from 1808-1814. Although battered by the war, Cadíz remained free. In fact, one of Europe's first democratic constitutions was promulgated here in 1812 (and copied by the rebels in Spain's disintegrating empire). When the French were expelled and the Spanish king returned, he refused to abide by the limits that constitution put on his power. It was an experiment not for nobles.

Pictured below is the upper window details and Corinthian pillars from the same Architectural school.

Since it was one of the few towns to avoid the Napoleonic occupation, the town hosted the Spanish parliament which created the liberal Constitution of Cádiz. For most of the rest of the 19th century, Spanish kings tried to be absolute while parliaments led by that in Cadíz tried to limit them. In the meantime, the Spanish empire continued to dissipate and with it, the wealth that drove Cadíz. An influx of Irish, exiled by the potato famine, revived the place somewhat towards the end of the 19th century.

Above: This huge Banyan tree dominates the Plaza de Mina's landscaping. The 19th century neo-classical building at left is the Museo de Cadíz, a photo-friendly museum with (sometimes) bi-lingual displays including those of the Egyptian and Phoenicians once buried nearby. The Atlantic around Cadíz has gobbled up thousands of ships over its 3100 year history. The mud at sea bottom is anaerobic

and swallowed these ships fast -- so fast and sealed so well that the wood in those vessels is well preserved. All this means that a huge archeological treasure surrounds Cadíz if only funds become available to rescue it before progress in the form of harbor expansion destroys this fragile heritage.

While known for its archeology finds discovered typically during port reconstructions or extracted from Phoenician or Roman necropoli, the museum also contains fine paintings, typically taken from convents which closed (or had their art appropriated by the government in the 19th century). At left we have "Ecce Homo," a tenebrist work of Jose Ribera's (Lo Spagnoletto).

There are many more canvases from Ribera's Andalusian followers such as Zurbarán and Murillo who died painting a church in Cadíz after falling from his scaffold.

Cargadores a Indias

Let's take a last look at the typical "Indes merchant" house (Cargadores a Indias).

This one is the baroque palace of the Marquis of Recaño, built on the highest part of Cadíz island in 1730. Once the home of the Spanish Supreme Court, today it's a music conservatory named for (who else) Manuel de Falla. The sounds of practicing students wafted through its open windows as we walked by.

Typically these structures would extend through their elaborate marble doorways into patios. The first floor would serve as a warehouse for the merchant's import/export materials. A mezzanine level would hold the merchant's offices with his family and servants on the next two floors. While much would be spent on the facade and stairways, the piece de resistance would typically be its high tower (above right) so the merchant could keep an eye on the port.

In this case, the tower of the Marquis of Recaño was converted into the watchtower for the port in 1788 and was called the Tavira Tower after its original owner. On a clear day, you can see nearly 100km from here, including the coast of Africa. Once over 160 towers peaked over Cadíz roofs.

In many Andalusian towns, the highest towers contain camera obscuras (essentially pinhole cameras you can walk into to get real-time panoramic view of the town). Cadíz put one here in 1994.

A town lined out

Here's a few random thoughts as we leave Cadíz:

First, let's talk about those lines we saw painted on the cobblestones in some of these pictures.

Mostly I am guided by the green and the blond (pictured at lef), namely, the Michelin Green Guidebook held by its interpreter, Jane. Here we had other colors as Cadíz created 4 color coded walking routes -- painted right onto the sidewalks and streets. A great idea and it made up for their charging two Euros for the kind of advertising-encrusted tourist map that every other town in Europe gives away.

In 2007, Cadíz installed nearly 200 bilingual pictures-signs like that on the kiosk next to Jane -- another plus, (but not enough to make up for most churches being closed).

Pylons of Cadíz

Here's a more modern tower, one of the two galvanized steel Pylons of Cadíz, which carry electric power to the peninsula.

At over 500 feet, these are more than 3 times higher than the Tavira Tower. These hollow towers have the some of the elegance of the Eiffel tower and breakup the monotony of the long causeway leading from the Spanish mainland into the old town. Look carefully and you can see the spiral staircase which climbs to the top inside. As practical as they are beautiful, they were created during the late 1950s when the Franco regime could not import the steel it needed to build traditional carrier poles and so had to rely on Italian ingenuity as they did in the days of Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci. In this case the architect was Alberto Toscano. (Thanks to Wiki for these images as I was driving when we passed this.)

And our last shot...

As a compliment to the purple lines on Cadíz's streets, let's use this as our final shot: We found this Snuffleupagus, obviously imported from its native Hawaii, able to keep up with the litter left by the heavy foot traffic on these narrow cobblestones. On most pedestrian-friendly streets, it was the only thing with wheels. Perhaps its fellow native Hawaiian Obama can deploy several of these to clean up Wall Street.

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