Cadiz, Spain

25/11/2025

Viking Saturn is berthed right in the centre of the old city of Cadiz, only a few minutes walk across the road to enter the city. This morning we have booked a guided walking tour of the city which looks like it will be a great way to get a perspective on this very scenic city.

 


Founded in 1100BC, Cadiz is one of Europes oldest cities. Established as a major trading port by the Phoenicians, like most other parts of this region, over history it had been invaded and occupied by just about everyone. Myth has it that Cadiz was founded by Hercules, and his image is seen in many places including on the flag of Cadiz.

It seems the walking tour is very popular and scheduled to go for 3 hours. Fortunately, we are one of the first groups so may get ahead of the crowd.


Across the road from the ship gather in a  garden to commence our tour

The map below shows how the city is on a peninsula and is quite compact making a walking tour ideal. the cruise port terminal is on the left hand side.


As we begin our walk the guide points out a few features of the flora of Cadiz including this "Drunken Tree", which I later found out is a Silk Floss Tree. Fig trees and Seville orange trees are everywhere.


Drunken Tree

Our walk takes us along the shoreline to Plaza de Espana, passing some interesting buildings along the way.


Monument to the Spanish Constitution of 1812


The back of the monument featuring a statue of Hercules

Our guide was obsessed with lookout towers as there are over 100 of them in Cadiz and were a feature of most buildings due to constant attacks from the sea or Cadiz's important role as a major trading port they allowed observation of ships coming and going. The building below on Plaza Espana had 4 lookout towers.


House of Four Towers


Old Customs House (Now Headquarters of the Provincial Council)





Having seen the features of Plaza de Espana, we continued on through the cobblestone streets.




In Plaza San Francisco, a massive old convent, has been partly converted into a  Parador Hotel  Francia Y Paris.



Part of the convent still houses the Church of Santo Domingo.


Church of Santo Domingo







Some interesting balconies







Street named after Queen Isabella

There is a very large square with lots of open space that is normally used for public events. Something is being erected today as we are walking through, probably something to do with Christmas. The feature of the square is the impressive Church of San Antonio.


Plaza San Francisco



Church of San Antonio

Another nearby square is completely different. Mina Square is filled with gardens and some very large trees. a nice spot to be on a hot day seeking some shade




One of the feature trees is an Australian Morton Bay Fig


More cobblestone streets






Unique door knockers



St Michael Street


St Michael slaying the Devil

We are on our way to the central food market, but every little street has something of interest.


The food market is impressive, as is the old building it is housed in.







Outside in the square their are a number of florists selling their wares




The final part of our walking tour is to Cathedral Square to see the impressive Cadiz Cathedral and have a look inside. Nothing prepared us for the sheer size of this Church.


The entrance to the Cathedral dominates the square





The Choir


The choir enclosure




Made of solid silver and weighing about 500 kgs, this ceremonial float is used in Easter Parades

The crypt was enormous and had a huge unsupported circular ceiling that is supporting somevenormous weight from above.


Our tour is no officially ended and we head back to the ship, after a solid 3 hours walking on cobble stones, ready to sit down for a while. On the way back  there were some tempting food offerings that we managed to resist.


This is the best ham ever


Lunch and a rest on board for an hour or so rekindled our spirit and we went back ashore for a last look of this very impressive city. One thing we didn't get to see this morning was the ruins of the Roman Amphitheatre so we wandered off to find it. All we knew was that it wasn't far from the Cathedral. Eventually we found a low key wooden door at the end of a street, that was the entrance to this free museum. It was a bit difficult to photograph but impressive nevertheless.




After another hour of walking around we went back to the ship once again resisting the call of the Jamon Iberico.


All aboard time was 5 pm, and we were under way by around 5.30 pm. Cadiz has been one of the highlights of the trip.






































Section of the old city wall


Statue of San Francisco Javier a Spanish Jesuit Missionary and leading figure in spreading Christianity to parts of Asia.






 















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