Discover Cadiz’s Historic Gems: Europe’s Oldest City, Cadiz, Spain

Cádiz lays claim to being the oldest city still standing in Europe. That’s quite something. Over the centuries (and millenia), this beautiful coastal Andalucían city has played a vital role in many different civilisations. It has more than its fair share of interesting stories.

In this blog I’ll outline some of Cádiz’s historical gems - including some unusual and lesser known, and some hidden in plain sight.

Before we dive into Cádiz’s specific historic gems, let’s first look at its overall history. Cádiz was founded more than 3,000 years ago by the Phoenicians - an early maritime civilisation primarily based in modern day Lebanon, who pop up all over Europe’s ancient history.

The city’s name comes from this time. The Phoenicians called the city Gadir, meaning ‘enclosure’. The city of Agadir likely has the same root.

Cádiz later became part of the Carthaginian Empire, and then fell to Rome in the 3rd century B.C., under whom it flourished as a port and naval base. Like much of Spain, it spent the next few centuries changing hands - the Visigoths, who destroyed a lot of the original city, the Byzantines and, for more than 500 years, the Moors, before being conquered by Spanish forces in the 13th century. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).