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Click on the button above to bring up the map for this walk.

As I mentioned earlier, the four Cadiz walks actually begin in the centrally-located Plaza de San Juan de Dios. Since we did the first walk backwards, we ended up here, and so we were in the right spot to begin another walk. This time, we chose the Cadiz Constitution walk, which highlights locations that figured into the recent history of Spanish Government.

When you pop up the map of this walk, you can find the beginning of it by scrolling all the way down and all the way to the right; Plaza de San Juan de Dios is in the lower right corner of the map.

As we were starting out on our second walk here in the plaza, we noticed a display near the Information Center; it had an aerial view of the city taken at an angle, and I thought it might make an interesting addition to this page, and I have marked on it the approximate route that we followed with the green route, and the three that we will be following on the other three walks. They aren't exact by any means, but they'll give you an idea of the area of the old city that we covered- quite a lot of it, as it turned out.

Here is another view- this time a diagram- that will show you all four routes. (You can see the Information Center marked in Plaza San Juan de Dios as well.)

Actually, the plaza area in front of the Information Center was interesting, situated as it is between the first row of city buildings and the port where our ship was docked. We had a nice walk on our way north to the first stop, and we saw at least one interesting sculpture.

As we were walking north to the first stop on the Cadiz Constitution walk, we took a few pictures of the plaza and the harbor, and if you click on the thumbnails below you can have a look at them:

Stop 1: Palacio de Diputacion

Built by engineer Juan Caballero between 1770 and 1784, at the request of Carlos III, the Palacio de Diputacion, located at the north end of the long park/plaza by the Cadiz harbor, has had several official purposes.

As we were walking north through the plaza towards the Palacio, we came across a bust sculpture, and one of the most interesting trees I'd ever seen. (I might point out that we would see lots of interesting vegetation on our trip through Southern Europe and the Mediterranean- almost none of which grows here.)

Today, the building, with its two arcaded courtyards and two entries in the shorter sides, houses the Provincial Council. The building is built in the neoclassical style, out of stone and and sedimentary rock quarried nearby; you can still see the shells and other items embedded in it. The exterior is decorated in a classic way, with fluted pilasters of stone and curved triangular pediments.

The building was enovated in the 2nd half of the nineteenth century, on the occasion of the visit of Elizabeth II to the city, although the decoration of the main chamber (marble, glass, cedar wood, velvet, mirrors, and so on) was left intact. From across the street, I got a photo of Fred by the fountain southeast of the building. We did not go in the Palacio, but went around its northeast side to get to the next stop on our walk.

Stop 2: Plaza de Espana and Las Cortes Monument

Around to the north side of the Palacio de Diputacion, we came to a very large square, dominated by the Monument to the Constitution of 1812- Plaza de España.

Plaza de Espana came into being after a portion of the old city wall was demolished, extending an older plaza called Plazuela del Carbón. The goal of this demolition was to create a grand new city square to mark the hundredth anniversary of the liberal constitution, which was proclaimed for Spain in Cadiz in 1812. The city wanted to provide a setting for a suitable memorial. The plaza and memorial were the work of architect Modesto Lopez Otero and sculptor Aniceto Marinas. The work began in 1912 and was finished in 1929.

The lower level of the monument represents a chamber and an empty presidential armchair. The upper level has various inscriptions above the chamber. On pedestals at the end of the two wings of the monument (those wings face east) are bronze figures representing peace and war. In the center, a pilaster rises to symbolize, in allegorical terms, the principals expressed in the 1812 constitution. At the foot of this pilaster, there is a female figure representing Spain, and, to either side, scuptural groupings representing agriculture and citizenship.

You can see good views of all these elements of the monument if you will click on the thumbnails below and look at the pictures we took of it:

The history of the Constitution of 1812, and the theme of this walk, is very interesting. The Cádiz Cortes were sessions of the national legislative body which met in the safe haven of Cádiz during the French occupation of Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. The Cádiz Cortes were seen then, and by historians today, as a major step towards liberalism and democracy in the history of Spain.

An African Tree in Plaza de Espana

From the first days of the Peninsular War, juntas, established by army commanders, guerrilla leaders, or local civilian groups, appeared in areas outside French control. Realizing that unity was needed to coordinate efforts against the French and to deal with British aid, several of these— Murcia, Valencia, Seville and Castile and León— called for the formation of a central one. After a series of negotiations, a Supreme Central Junta met in Aranjuez on 25 September 1808. Serving as surrogate for the absent royal government, it succeeded in calling for representatives from local provinces and the overseas possessions to meet in an "Extraordinary and General Cortes of the Spanish Nation," so called because it would be both the single legislative body for the whole empire and the body which would write a constitution for it. Serious military reverses in 1810 forced the government to retreat to Cádiz, the last redoubt available to it on Spanish soil. In light of this the Central Junta dissolved itself on 29 January 1810 and set up a five-person regency, charged with convening a national Cortes.

The delegates from the Peninsula, America and the Philippines began holding regular sessions on 24 September 1810. Delegates were split into royalists and liberals. The royalist saw their role as caretaking until Ferdinand VII could return to the throne. The liberals wanted equality before the law, a centralized government, an efficient modern civil service, a reform of the tax system, the replacement of feudal privileges by freedom of contract, and the recognition of the property owner's right to use his property as he saw fit. As the liberals were the majority, they were able to transform the assembly from interim government to a constitutional convention. The product of the Cortes' deliberations reflected the liberals dominance, for the Spanish Constitution of 1812 came to be the "sacred code" of liberalism, and during the nineteenth century it served as a model for liberal constitutions of Latin nations.

As the principal aim of the new constitution was the prevention of arbitrary and corrupt royal rule, it provided for a limited monarchy which governed through ministers subject to parliamentary control. Suffrage, which was not determined by property qualifications, favored the position of the commercial class in the new parliament, since there was no special provision for the Church or the nobility. The constitution set up a rational and efficient centralized administrative system based on newly formed provinces and municipalities rather than on the historic provinces. Repeal of traditional property restrictions gave the liberals the freer economy they wanted.

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A revolutionary document, the 1812 Constitution marked the initiation of the Spanish tradition of liberalism, and when Ferdinand VII was restored to the throne in 1814, he refused to recognize it. He dismissed the Cortes Generales on 4 May and was determined to rule as an absolute monarch. These events forshadowed the long conflict between liberals and traditionalists that marked Spanish history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

You may enjoy watching the movie I made here in Plaza Espana; you can watch it with the player at left.

Stop 3: Casa de las Cuatro y Cinco Torres

Our next stop was just across the street to the west from the Plaza of Spain; it is a homogeneous set of properties called the House of the Five Towers.

When we were admiring the monument in Plaza Espana, we could see the House of the Five Towers behind it. The building is actually composed of five separate houses erected on a block of large proportions; they were built in 1771, and are baroque, transitioning to neoclassical in style. Despite being independent houses with some unique characteristics, the overall appearance is that of a single structure.

Each house has four floors, a small courtyard and tower. The facades are separated by cornices that forming bays and open balconies- except on the ground floor, where windows open. All towers are square, except for one which is a polygon. Today, these houses would seem familiar, for it is a concept we call the townhouse- like mine here in Dallas. (On another side of the square is a "copycat" building, usually called "The House of the Four Towers."

The connection to the Constitution is that some of the primary, influential movers at the conventions and meetings lived in houses near to what is now Plaza Espana- some of them in these houses.

Stop 4: Barrio de San Carlos/Walls of San Carlos

The San Carlos walls close in the neighborhood of the same name. Their construction was completed in 1784, according to the records kept by military workers on the project.

You can see the walls on the aerial view at right; I have marked where the picture of me (below, left) was taken, and the location of the tunnels that you can see in one of the other images we took here.

These walls form a semi-bastion that was constructed at the end of the 18th Century by the military engineer Juan Caballero. The Triumph to the Blessed Virgin is located close by, which is a Genovese work from the end of the 17th Century. From the middle of the 16th Century the San Felipe Bastion occupied part of this urban area. At the end of the 18th Century the governor of the city, Count O'Reilly, built the San Carlos district over this site, whose design follows Enlightment principles.

Click on the thumbnails below to see some additional pictures of the Walls of San Carlos:

Stop 5: Alameda Apodaca

We walked along the Walls of San Carlos for a ways until they ended, and then we continued to head west along the bay. We entered the Alameda Apodaca at the eastern end, and walked through it and along it until we turned left to head to our next stop in the city. The Alameda is a seaside park named in honor of Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, the last viceroy of Royal Spain.

We came down from the walls into the park as we walked along Rua Fermin Salvochea; the park itself, dating from the 17th century, is one of the most beautiful walks in the city.

The park originated from an area along the bay called Rota Caletilla, which in 1617 was transformed into mall. It was extended, beginning at the end of the wall of San Carlos and ended at the Presidium of the Candelaria. In the year 1750, it was transformed into the Alameda, and a baroque hall was built in 1840.

It has undergone several renovations, and the park reached its current form in 1926, when fountains and statuary were added. The most important monument in the Alameda Apodaca is the statue of the Marques de Comillas, who was a shipping magnate and constant promoter of Spanish-American relations. The statue was completed in 1922 and is a work of Antonio Parera. There was also a statue of Brother Diego of Cadiz (1743-1801), a saint and moralist. The lush vegetation of the Alameda is also worthy of mention, with the flagship being the huge ficus tree located next to the Bastion de la Candelaria.

Below are some thumbnails for other interesting pictures we took here in the park:

Stop 6: Iglesia del Carmen

At the western end of the park, our route had us turn left on Calle de Ceballos, and it was here that we found the Iglesia del Carmen.

This baroque Carmelite church dates from 1743. It was begun six years after arrival in Cadiz of the Carmelite Order in 1737. The work was led by stonemason José Bolaños and was completed in 1762. Outstanding features are the original facade and the venerated image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

Baroque church designed by the architect José Bolaños, was built in the mid-eighteenth century on an ancient chapel, the Blessing of God, which still retains the lateral portal.

The church is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a slender facade and two belfries or steeples articulated by richly decorated pillars and cornices. The church, of course, is dedicated to the Virgin del Carmen, a very popular religious figure known as a protector of seafarers. The constitutional connection arose when, in 1812, a solemn Te Deum was held in thanksgiving for the successful conclusion of the Constitutional text.

Stop 7: Plaza del Mentidero

After we turned left on Calle de Ceballos we walked southwest for about three blocks along this picturesque street, and it eventually brought us to the southeast corner of the triangular Plaza del Mentidero.

On the afternoon of March 19th, 1812, the procession that left from the Council building proclaimed the Constitution in various squares. One of these squares was this present one, the Plaza Mentidero. For this event they erected platforms which were presided over by a portrait of Fernando VII covered by a veil. This was then raised up to the sound of patriotic hymns before the reading of the constitutional text. In the morning, a solemn "Te Deum" had been celebrated in the nearby Del Carmen church, which was attended by the members of parliament, the Regency, military authorities and ambassadors.

This elongated and triangular plaza is closely linked to the city's carnival. It is the centerpiece of a neighborhood that was created in 1755 to complete the city between the headquarters of Carlos III and the plaza of San Antonio. In this square is a shrine created by the Confraternity of the Holy Christ of the Expiration, later named the "True Cross."

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I made a movie here in the square, and you can watch it with the player at right.

The name of this square is ironic; loosely translated, it is "Liars Square." Though the plaza contained a shrine to the "true cross," it became a place where the unemployed gathered to circulate all kinds of rumors, lies and uncertain news. Because of this, people began referring to it as "the Plaza of Lies." This was something of an embarrassment to the Brotherhood of Blessed Christ of the Expiration, so the Bishop petitioned the city of Cadiz to change the name. The city agreed to rename it "the place of truth," but this name never stuck.

In 1862, the plaza underwent major redevelopment, eliminating the cross, which was said to have been very beautiful. The current fountain was built at that time. The square is now a busy place and is famous for its carnival tradition.

Stop 8: Plaza de San Antonio

From Plaza del Mentidero, we headed southeast down a typical Cadiz street, following the blue line painted on the sidewalk. On the way, we stuck our heads in interesting doorways and the few shops that were open. A block later, we reached Plaza de San Antonio.

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Trying to take in the entire plaza in one picture was difficult, and I don't have a good one to show you. Better that you watch the movie I made as we entered the plaza; use the player at left to do so.

Plaza San Antonio used to be called Campo de la Jara, and it was larger than the current square and on the outskirts of the city. The main feature of the current plaza is the Chapel of San Antonio. The church was built in 1669 and subsequently modified various times. the most important alteration was the transformation of the main facade in the middle of the 19th Century. The front of the building is a delicate creation from the middle of the 18th Century and features much intricate carving. Inside there are carvings by Luisa Roldan and Jacinto Pimentel.

This square does not have a central monument, or fountains and sculptures, although there used to be a well, constructed in the 16th Century to supply water to the local population. The Plaza de San Antonio became over time in a civil and religious center. It contains, besides the aforementioned church, the Provincial Library, a number of cultural agencies of the city of Cadiz, the Casino and Annex and the Consulate of Argentina. On the walls of one of these cultural agencies are memorials and inscriptions relating to the Cadiz Constitution.

Stop 9: Oratorio de San Felipe Neri

From Plaza San Antonio, we followed the blue line south, zigzagging through three or four blocks of Cadiz to reach the next two points of interest.

Oratorio de San Felipe Neri

The Oratory Church of St. Philip 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. It was built between 1685 and 1719, but ruined by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755; most of it was rebuilt by 1764. Outside, the carvings commemorate the centenary of the Cortes of Cadiz and the Constitution of 1812.

The creation of the Constitution is a celebrated achievement in Cádiz, and there are numerous markers around the church. The building and surrounding streets are constructed so that the wind of the bay and the shadows protect pedestrians from the harsh sun of Andalusia.

The Church of San Felipe Neri in Cadiz played a role in the history of Andalusia and of Spain. As a result of the City Council asking the king for aid for the church in 1717, an office of the Crown Royal was established that year. In 1810, the church hosted the Parliament that created the first modern Spanish constitution. When the Cortes moved to Cadiz to escape the French army, the church, due to its capacity and in the houses adjacent to it, made space to install the secretariat offices, archives and other facilities necessary for the highest legislative body- a remarkably patriotic move for the church. Some modifications were also made to the building at this time.

The first session of the Cortes held in this church took place on February 24, 1811 and the Cortes met there until 1813. Of course, its major achievement was the creation of the new constitution. A hundred years later, on the occasion of the commemoration of the centenary of the Constitution, an Iconographic Museum (now the Municipal Museum) was located in one of the chapels.

The role of the church in Spanish history was not over, though. In 1823, because of the new French military intervention in Spain, the Government and the Courts, fleeing from Madrid and Seville, took refuge again in the church to hold various regular and special sessions. Under the church there is also a crypt containing the remains of several members of that event.

Stop 10: Museo de Las Cortes de Cadiz

Museo de Las Cortes

The Museo de las Cortes de Cádiz was located just across a small plaza in front of the Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. It was created to memorialize the acts carried out in the city to fashion the Constitution of 1812, the first in the history of Spain. A small museum had been created at the time the constitution was created, but on its centenary, it was expanded greatly.

In 1909, the mayor of Cádiz purchased two urban properties to create the Iconographic Museum and Historical Site of the Parliament and Cadiz, and it opened in 1912. In 1947, an accidental explosion of a a store of Navy munitions caused serious damage to the museum, which closed until 1964. In the 1980s and 1990s, the building was significantly renovated, and it continues as a repository of much historical information. It created new exhibits to celebrate the bicentennial of "La Pepa." It also abounds with objects of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries- weapons, copies of constitutions, medals, flags and pictures. One of the museum's jewels is a model of the city of Cadiz by the military engineer Alfonso Jimenez, created in 1777 by order of Carlos III, and made of fine wood and ivory.

We really didn't have time anyway, but the museum was closed when we went by it.

Stop 11: Calle Ancha

From the museum, we walked northeast on Calle San Jose to one of the major streets in Cadiz- Calle Ancha (Broad Street).

Calle Ancha

Broad Street has been the nerve center of Cadiz since the eighteenth century, and the name of the street is apropos as it was the widest street in the city. The city's first and best large homes were situated on the street. This pedestrian street is highly commercial, and very busy for most of the day; it is the most frequented street by Cadiz citizens.

The cafes and bars along this 18th Century street were the were the unofficial gathering and debating places for members of the 1812 Cortes. A number of houses along the street are notable either for their architecture, their owners or both.

Stop 11a: Casa de Los Cinco Gremios

One notable house along the street is the House of the Five Guilds- jewelers, haberdashers, mercers, drapers and lingerie. If I'd been reading the descriptions of the spots marked on our map, I would have sought out the house and taken a photo of it. Actually, the Five Greater Guilds was a corporation founded in 1667 which acted as a pre-capitalist institution, consistent with Spain's mercantilist economic policy. The house is #16 Calle Ancha, and is today occupied by the Rector of the University of Cadiz.

Stop 11b: Casa de Manuel de Falla

Manuel de Falla y Matheu (1876 - 1946 ) was an Argentinian Nationalist Spanish composer. With Isaac Albéniz, Joaquín Rodrigo, Enrique Granados and Turina he is one of the most important musicians of the first half of the twentieth century in Spain.

De Falla lived in a courtyard house on Calle Ancha; we stuck our head in the tiled entry to have a closer look.

In 1939, after the Spanish Civil War, Manuel de Falla was exiled to Argentina (although the Franco government offered him a pension if he returned to Spain. He was knighted in 1940. He lived in exile in Argentina until his death. Although he was often sick, he continued to compose; his last work was unfinished at his death. The task of completing it fell to his disciple Ernesto Halffter, and it premiered in Spain.

His remains were repatriated to Cadiz, where they were received by his family, Jose Maria Pemán and different ecclesiastical authorities, civil and military officials and the Minister of Justice, Raimundo Fernandez-Cuesta, representing the Head of State, Francisco Franco. The funeral procession went from the pier to the Santa Cruz Cathedral for a solemn funeral. With the express permission of Pope Pius XII, the remains were buried in the crypt of the cathedral- right next to those of Jose Maria Pemán.

Stop 11c: Casa Palacio de Mora

This impressive house occupies numbers 28 and 30 on Broad Street; the building has an impressive Elizabethan character and was designed by the architect Juan de la Vega Moreno.

The house was built for the de Mora family, a wealthy business family in Cadiz. The family moved into it in the summer of 1862, and held an official "opening" festivity- a gala ball in honor of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. The facade is divided into 3 sections, highlighting the central balcony Ionic columns and figures that support the balcony. The interior retains the original furniture and decoration.

Stop 11d: Iglesia de la Conversion de San Pablo

The Church of the Conversion of St. Paul, known as St. Paul, is a 17th Century Catholic church, rebuilt in neoclassical style in the late eighteenth century.

This church was built in 1678, thanks to a donation from Susalaga Jacinta Martinez. In 1787, a reconstruction was carried and the architect, Torcuato Benjumeda, gave it the neoclassical treatment. Many of the delegates to the constitutional convention in the early 1800s made this their temporary home church.

Stop 12: Plaza de San Francisco

Even though the Constitution walk continued on almost back to the harbor, the last official place of interest was Plaza San Francisco.

This plaza is located two blocks east of Plaza de Mina, and the main feature of it is the San Francisco church and convent. Originally built in 1566, it was substantially renovated in the 17th century, when its cloisters were added. Originally, the Plaza de Mina formed the convent's orchard.

Click on the thumbnails below for a couple more pictures of the San Francisco church:

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I made a movie here of Plaza San Francisco, and you can watch it with the player at right.

And we took a few more pictures around the plaza, and you can see them by clicking on the thumbnails below:

The Walk Ends

This brought our second walk through Cadiz to an end.

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