- Also known as
- Cadalso
José Cadalso was born in Cádiz on 8 October 1741, the son of a rich merchant. He studied with the Jesuits in Paris and Madrid, made the Grand Tour of Europe, and built a career as a professional soldier that took him to the rank of colonel. In Madrid he wrote and took part in the literary circle that met at the Fonda de San Sebastián.
He is remembered for three books. Los eruditos a la violeta (1772) is a satire on superficial learning. Cartas marruecas, an exchange of letters between two Moroccans and a Spaniard, looks at Spanish society through foreign eyes and first appeared in book form in 1793. Noches lúgubres helped open the way to Spanish Romanticism.
Cadalso was killed in February 1782 at the siege of Gibraltar, fifteen days after his promotion to colonel. His tomb is in the church of Santa María la Coronada in San Roque, not in Cádiz, and no monument or plaque to him in the city is documented. The closest way to meet the port of his birth is the Cádiz old town walk, and the guide to things to do in Cádiz shows where to start.
In their time
-
Atlantic Trade & the Golden Age
1492–1808
After 1492 Cádiz grew as a port for the Americas, sacked by the English in 1596 and fortified in response. In 1717 the Casa de Contratación moved here from Seville, and merchant families built the watchtower houses, the cathedral and the baroque oratories of the old town.
-
José Celestino Mutis
1732–1808 Historical figure
José Celestino Mutis was born in Cádiz in 1732, trained there as a physician and led the Royal Botanical Expedition of New Granada. See his Cádiz links.
Undated
-
Cádiz Cathedral
Monument
Cádiz Cathedral's one ticket covers the crypt, the Clock Tower and the Cathedral Museum with its silver treasury. Check the official site for current hours.
-
Castillo de San Sebastián
Monument
Castillo de San Sebastián is Cádiz's nine-sided sea fortress at the end of La Caleta. Its history, the 2024 reopening and what to check before you walk out.
-
Castillo de Santa Catalina
Monument
Star-shaped sea fortress at the north end of La Caleta, built after the 1596 Anglo-Dutch sack. Free entry, exhibition rooms and a past as a military prison.
-
Oratorio de la Santa Cueva
Monument
Two chapels, one below the other: a bare underground oratory and an oval upper chapel with three Goya canvases. €5 general entry; no Sunday hours listed.
-
Oratorio de San Felipe Neri
Monument
Baroque oratory in Cádiz where the Cortes sat from 1811 and the 1812 Constitution was promulgated. Elliptical plan, rococo altar; hours and €5 ticket listed.
-
