Sights in Cádiz
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Plaza de Topete
A short walk northwest from the cathedral, this square is one of Cádiz's liveliest, bright with flower stalls and adjoining the large, animated Mercado Central (Central Market).
reviewed
-
B
Museo de Cádiz
Cádiz’s excellent major museum faces one of the city’s largest and leafiest squares. The stars of the ground-floor archaeology section are two Phoenician marble sarcophagi, carved in human likeness, and a monumental statue of the Roman emperor Trajan, from Baelo Claudia. The fine-arts collection upstairs has 21 superb canvases by Francisco de Zurbarán, and the painting that cost Murillo his life – the altarpiece from Cádiz’s Convento de Capuchinas. The baroque maestro died from injuries received in a fall from scaffolding while working on this in 1682.
reviewed
-
C
Cathedral
Cádiz's yellow-domed cathedral is an impressively proportioned baroque-cum-neoclassical construction but by Spanish standards very sober in its decoration. It fronts a broad, traffic-free plaza where the cathedral's ground-plan is picked out in the paving stones. The decision to build the cathedral was taken in 1716 but the project wasn't finished until 1838, by which time neoclassical elements, such as the dome, towers and main facade, had diluted Vicente Acero's original baroque plan.
reviewed
-
Catedral
Cádiz’ yellow-domed cathedral is an impressively proportioned baroque–neoclassical construction, but by Spanish standards very sober in its decoration. It fronts a broad, traffic-free plaza where the cathedral’s ground-plan is picked out in the paving stones. The decision to build the cathedral was taken in 1716 but the project wasn’t finished until 1838, by which time neoclassical elements, such as the dome, towers and main facade, had diluted Vicente Acero’s original baroque plan.
reviewed
-
D
Torre Tavira
The Torre Tavira is the highest of Cádiz’s old watchtowers (in the 18th century the city had no fewer than 160 of these, built so that citizens could observe the comings and goings of ships without leaving home). It provides great panoramas and has a camera obscura projecting live images of the city onto a screen.
reviewed
-
E
Playa de la Victoria
This lovely, wide, ocean beach of fine Atlantic sand stretches about 4km along the peninsula from its beginning 1.5km beyond the Puertas de Tierra. On summer weekends almost the whole city seems to be out here. Bus 1 'Plaza España-Cortadura' from Plaza de España will get you there.
reviewed
-
F
Museo de las Cortes de Cádiz
Museo de las Cortes de Cádiz is full of historical memorabilia focusing on the 1812 parliament, including a marvellous large 1770s model of Cádiz, made for King Carlos III. The museum was being renovated at the time of research.
reviewed
-
G
Oratorio de San Felipe Neri
The Oratorio de San Felipe Neri is the church where the Cortes de Cádiz met. This is one of Cádiz’s finest baroque churches, with a beautiful dome, an unusual oval interior and a Murillo Inmaculada on the altarpiece.
reviewed
-
H
Hospital de Mujeres
The Hospital de Mujeres is an 18th-century women's hospital whose chapel is one of the most profusely decorated churches from Cádiz's golden century and contains El Greco's Extasis de San Francisco (Ecstasy of St Francis).
reviewed
-
I
Oratorio de la Santa Cueva
The Oratorio de la Santa Cueva, a short distance southeast of Plaza de Mina, is a 1780s neoclassical church whose richly decorated oval-shaped Capilla Alta (Upper Chapel) contains three paintings by the inimitable Francisco de Goya.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
J
Cádiz Virtual Siglo XVIII
Within the Museo de las Cortes de Cádiz and open during the same hours is Cádiz Virtual Siglo XVIII where you don a '3D stereoscopic' helmet to take interactive tours of 18th-century Cádiz - gimmicky but fun.
reviewed
-
K
Barrio del Pópulo
Between Plaza San Juan de Dios and the cathedral is the Barrio del Pópulo, the kernel of medieval Cádiz and a focus of the city's recent spruce-up programme, now sporting several craft shops and galleries.
reviewed
-
L
Museo Catedralicio
The cathedral ticket admits you to the nearby Museo Catedralicio, with an excavated medieval street and material on the Anglo-Dutch sacking of 1596 alongside cathedral treasures and assorted art.
reviewed
-
M
Castillo de San Sebastián
Sandy Playa de la Caleta separates Santa Catalina from the 18th-century Castillo de San Sebastián. You can't enter San Sebastián but do walk along the airy 750m causeway to its gate.
reviewed
-
N
Castillo de Santa Catalina
The Castillo de Santa Catalina was built after the 1596 sacking; inside are an interesting historical exhibit on Cádiz and the sea, and a gallery for exhibitions.
reviewed
-
O
Torre de Poniente
From a separate entrance on Plaza de la Catedral, climb to the top of the Torre de Poniente for marvellous vistas.
reviewed
-
P
Plaza San Juan de Dios
Broad Plaza San Juan de Dios is surrounded by cafés and dominated by the imposing neoclassical Ayuntamiento built around 1800.
reviewed
-
Q
