Finally, we have arrived at my favorite city/town on this vacation tour that I took on the first days of this year... After visiting a small town of Tarifa, Almería and Málaga it's time to walk around Cádiz! As it left a very nice impression on me, I had two walks around the old town city center so you will find some night photos and early morning photos in this post! Double pleasure for the same price/free... Where can you get something like that? Only on HIVE and #WednesdayWalk community!
When we were closing by to the city we had to cross over a bridge to get there, and I noticed that was another bridge that was leading to the town too... So, I assumed that the old town center is on the island, but is it? To get an answer to that question, I had to google it! 😂 And I didn't find the straight answer... Some say that it's a peninsula, but others say it's an island as it is surrounded by water from all sides... The main debate is because there is a river that goes on one side and the ocean on the other side... Tbh, I don't care too much which one is true, the most important is that it's a beautiful city...
We arrived in the city just before dark, found a parking lot, and this is the photo that I took on my way to pay for the parking... What you see in the distance isn't a building, it's a cruiser ship! The port is huge and back in the 18th century, it was the main port in the whole of Spain! Just one thing more before we begin "cruising" in the streets, Cádiz has grown a lot and I didn't visit all part of it, just the old town...
Our hotel was in the middle of the old town and we had to walk with our bags to it... It was 15 minutes walk, so not a big deal... We have been welcomed by this great statue and I wanted to discover what they are doing, but unfortunately, didn't... Until I used the power of Google... 😂
This sculpture is called Las Cigarreras de Cádiz and represents women who made tobacco... That was another important industry in Spain and I remember the other trip that I made a couple of years ago where we visited some old paper factories in Alicante province... Most of them were producing paper specifically for tobacco factories!
To get to our hotel, we had to pass by another monument, Statue of Segismundo Moret... I found later that he was one of the "favorite politicians" of the town, so artist Agustín Querol created this monument in his honor... In the back of the photo, you can see the Old Town Hall... The construction of the building began in the 15th century and was done in two stages... It was finally finished in the 19th century!
I think that this street is one of the main ones, as it is "wider" than others... 😃 Yes, you have seen it right, I said wider... Now you understand why I had to park in the port and walk to the hotel... 😃 As I was there at the beginning of the year, Christmas lights were still on in almost every street!
One photo especially for all Anna around the world... 😃
This is one of the typical houses in Cádiz... With these narrow balconies which I suppose they couldn't build bigger as you could jump over to your neighbor (as the streets are very narrow) 😅
In this photo, you can see better what I'm talking about...
We are moving forward to the Plaza San Antonio, where we can see the church originally built in 1669, and back right the San Francisco church built in 1566, renovated in the 17th century... Spanish constitution was proclaimed there in 1812! So much history in every part of this small town...
As it was a holiday time, they created an ice-skating rink... As it very rarely snows there, it is a great place for creating unforgettable memories... 😃
At the beginning of the post, I said that this will be a "two-day walk" and we are now early in the morning, walking toward the ocean... As it is an island (or not? 😃), wherever you go, you will find water... :)
I have never visited Malta or Venezia, but this photo reminds me a lot of them... There is something special when you are on an island... Don't know why, but I was always attracted by them... 15 years ago, Malta was in my plans as a place for living... Maybe Cádiz is an adequate replacement? 😃
This youngster wanted to show the world how beautiful it is... Wasn't scared at all posing for the camera... 😄
Not too beautiful a photo, but you know how I like playing with sun rays...
Our time in the morning was limited, so we couldn't visit all the places that we wanted to, and one of them was, unfortunately, San Sebastian's castle which you can see at the end of this road in the photo...
Instead of going there, I took a photo of the sculpture of Paco Alba (Francisco Alba Medina), creator of the troupe and compositor that lived and died, and Cádiz...
Close to him, we can find another sculpture, but this time of the writer Fernando Quiñones, who also lived in the town until the end of his life...
Another interesting house in the town, but more modern and artistic...
The town is full of small churches like this one (Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Palma)...
...or this one... San Lorenzo Parish Church from the 18th century...
A short look at the sign to find out where we are and where we have to go... The old town center isn't big, but as every street is narrow and the same as the previous one, you can get lost... Having a church on literally every corner that looks like the previous one doesn't help either... 😃
This was a "short series" of pictures on the wall at one of the town's squares... As you can see it was dedicated to Christmas in combination with the town's traditions and "emblematic" architecture...
In the end, we are in another town's square, this one is called Plaza de las Flores, or Flower's square... There is a small market where you can buy flowers from the area, and this beautiful building which is now used as a post office...
On the same square, we can find another sculpture... This time it is dedicated to Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire... There is not too much history about it, but he was born in Gades (now Cádiz) in 4 AD!
Cádiz is definitely the most beautiful city (in Spain) that we have visited on this journey... I hope I will get back there and spend a bit more time enjoying its charm and history!
I hope you enjoyed this walk around Cádiz... Next stop, Portugal!
Thank you for your valuable time,
ph
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