Museo de las Cortes de Cadiz (The Cortes Museum of Cadiz), Cadiz

The Cortes Museum of Cádiz offers a rich and evocative look at the city's pivotal role in shaping modern Spain. Inaugurated in 1912 during the centenary celebrations of the Constitution of 1812, the museum was originally intended as both a historical archive and a cultural tribute.

The building itself, designed by architect Juan Cabrera Latorre, features a neoclassical façade with towering Ionic columns and an imperial staircase, blending 19th-century grandeur with modernist ironwork touches.

At its heart, the museum pays homage to the first Spanish Constitution, drafted in Cádiz during the Napoleonic occupation. A dedicated gallery showcases paintings, artifacts, and personal memorabilia from the period, including Salvador Viniegra’s powerful canvas The Proclamation of the Constitution, and one of its most remarkable treasures: an 18th-century scale model of Cádiz, crafted with painstaking detail in mahogany, ivory, and silver.

Visitors can also explore archaeological artifacts, pre-Columbian ceramics, maritime objects, maps, and a figurehead of the Virgin of Rosario from the 17th century. A wide range of 18th- and 19th-century items-from weapons and medals to tapestries and busts of monarchs and notable figures-offers a broader portrait of a time of colonial trade, political upheaval, and enlightenment thought.