Based on texts by ancient geographers and writers, Cadiz would seem to have been founded around 1100 bc. by the Phoenicians, the time when their sailors reached the bay in their continuous expansion after dominating the Mediterranean.
Cadiz’s geographical conditions and the most singular aspects of the culture of its founders will always mark the history of the city: GADIR, which means enclosed precinct, would become the base for the commercial routes of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
At the beginning of the decadence of Tyrus, the Phoenician metropolis on which the city depended, the townspeople of Gadir came under the protection of Carthage, the new lord of the seas.
From the 5th century bc. the Carthaginians dominated Gadir, making it play an important role in its network of coastal factories and in the development of the Punic wars between Carthage and Rome.
It was precisely the development of these battles to dominate the Mediterranean that enabled the people of Gadir to free themselves from the Carthaginian domination by signing a pact with Rome. This situation gave the city its new name, GADES, and the city would later become one of the most important cities in the Roman province of Hispania.
In 1265, Cadiz received the title of a city and was brought into the Crown of Castile in 1493
What you must not miss:
• Cathedral
• Tavira Tower
• Roman theatre
• Mora Palace
• Callejón del Duende and Posada del Mesón
• Beaches
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