Cadiz Places of Interest 1

Puerta de Tierra

Puerta de Tierra is an architectural monument which forms part of the stronghold of the wall outside the entrance to the city of Cadiz. Built by the architect Torcuato Cayon an academic in the eighteenth century, the facade is carved in marble and is designed more as a religious altarpiece than as a military fortification.

In facade front has Braoque statues carved of white marble of San German San Servando with bole fluted Ionic columns set on the bases attributed to Andreoli in 1705.

Torreon Puerta Tierra
Puerta de Tierra de Cadiz.

The optical telegraph lines of Cadiz were overseen by Colonel Francisco Hurtado and his engineers who organized four lines between Cadiz and the main towns of the Bay: Sanlucar de Barrameda, Jerez de la Frontera and Medina Sidonia Chiclana de la Frontera.

During the siege of Cadiz only the one line was kept, the telegraph line Cadiz-La Isla de Leon now San Fernando in 1820, after Quiroga and Riego was prevented from entering Cadiz, the telegraph military were dismantled.

The Gate tower historical roots are in the old name Mathe Tower, in memory of the creator of the optical telegraph lines which later was the initiator of the Telegraph Corps.

Gran Teatro Falla
The El Gran Teatro Falla in Cadiz were building started in 1884, following the plans of Adolfo Morales de los Rios. In 1886, the City assumed the management of the work, however the shortage of funds caused the stoppage of works on different occasions and the building was finally completed at the end of 1905.

It was built on the site of the former Grand Theater Cadiz, which built of timber burned to the ground 1881. The municipal architect Juan Cabrera de la Torre, guided the work, largely by modifying the original project.

Teatro Romano de Cadiz
Located in the popular city neighbourhood it was a venue for performing plays of Greek and Roman origin. The theatre was created in 1981 after a fire in a warehouse, and was built by order of Lucio Cornelio Balbo The Less in the first century BC. It is the second largest theatre in the entire Roman world, only surpassed by the Theatre of Pompey, in Rome.

The amphitheatre diameter is 120 meters, and its capacity would be about 20,000 spectators. Cicero speaks of its use for propaganda speeches and of Balbo in his Epistles to relatives.

The Museum of Cadiz is located in Plaza de Mina and is built on land owned by the Franciscans in the nineteenth century. The building was designed by Juan Daura, opened in 1838 and architecturally is of the neoclassical style.

After renovations the museum has three sections: Archaeology, Fine Arts and Ethnography. To highlight works of Zurbaran, Salvador Viniegra and Adolf Ulrik Wertmüller.El Museo de las Cortes de Cadiz is a historical museum located in Via Santa Ines de Cadiz.

This museum is created as a reference to the history and acts carried out in the city to commemorate the first centenary of the 1812 Constitution, the first in the history of Spain. In this collection is a model of the city commissioned by Carlos III and has a surface area of 12.52 x 6.92 m2.

Catedral de Santa Cruz de Cadiz.
The Santa Cruz Cathedral has had different names and Gaditanos called the New Cathedral in contrast to the Old Cathedral Catedral de la Santa Cruz and this was built by Alfonso X El Sabio. It is the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Cadiz started in 1722 and was not completed until November 28, 1838. It has a Latin cross plan and three naves, the space being defined by sets of columns. The altar consists of a neoclassical temple dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

The perimeter of the temple has chapels which at the time of construction were the workshops for the work on the temple and are dedicated to the various patrons scribed in the Ecce Homo book of rolling and San German San Servando, among others.

The theatre is Neo classic style of red brick and has three horseshoe-arched door in its main facade of Moorish origin and alternate bands of plasterwork in red and white.

The plan is in the shape of a horseshoe, with matching floors, each surrounded by a gallery and links to the stairs, which rise from a large lobby renovated in the 1920s.

The stage measures 18 meters long and 25.5 meters deep, and the ceiling has a pointing depicting an allegory of Paradise, by Abarzuza and Felipe Rodriguez de Arias. Cadiz is renowned for local productions staged here and the yearly festivals under the Pastoral calendar which have become crowd pulling attractions during carnival time.