Cadiz, an important commercial city of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, which forms a part of the great division of Andalusia, is situated at the extremity of a narrow tongue of land projecting 5 miles N.W. from the Isle of Leon, 95 miles SSW. of Seville by rail, 7 miles SW. of Xeres (31 by rail). A small channel, with a draw-bridge and a railway bridge, separates the island from the mainland; at its northern outlet stands the arsenal of La Carraca, with large docks, 4 miles ESE. of the city. On the W. and S. the Atlantic Ocean washes the city, and on the N. and NE. the Bay of Cadiz, a deep inlet of the Atlantic, forming an outer and an inner bay. The town, which is walled and defended from the sea both by a series of forts and by low shelving rocks, is about 2 miles in circuit, and presents a remarkably bright appearance, with its shining granite ramparts, and its whitewashed houses crowned with terraces and overhanging turrets. Many of these flat roofs are also used as cisterns, the town being poorly supplied with water, which is brought from Santa Maria, 6 miles to the N. by sea, and 19 by rail. The streets are well paved and lighted, regular, but narrow, and there are some pleasant public walks, the most frequented of which is the Alameda, by the seaside. Cadiz has few public buildings of note: its two cathedrals are indifferent specimens of ecclesiastical architecture, but possess some excellent pictures by Murillo; while the custom-house, naval, and other schools, observatory, signal-tower, alms-houses, hospitals, and bull-ring are distinguished rather for excellent management than for architectural beauty. It reached its highest prosperity after the discovery of America, when it became the depot of all the commerce with the New World; declined greatly as a commercial city after the emancipation of the Spanish colonies in South America; but again revived, owing partly to the extension of the Spanish railway system, and partly to the establishment of new lines of steamers. The number of ships annually entering the port is about 3800, with a tonnage of over 1,200,000; of these about a third, with more than half the tonnage, are foreign. The exports consist of salt, cork, lead, wine, tunny-fish, olive-oil, and fruits. The manufactures are glass, woollen cloth, leather, soap, hats, gloves, fans, &c. Pop. (1860) 71,521; (1879) 65,028; (1885) 58,042.
Cadiz is one of the most ancient towns in Europe, having been built by the Phœnicians, under the name of Gaddir ('fortress'), about 1100 B.C. It afterwards passed into the hands of the Carthaginians, from whom it was captured by the Romans, who named it Gades, and under them it soon became a city of vast wealth and importance. Occupied afterwards by the Goths and Moors, it was taken by the Spaniards in 1262. In 1587 Drake destroyed the Spanish fleet in the bay; nine years later, Cadiz was pillaged and burned by Essex; and in 1625 and 1702 it was unsuccessfully attacked by the English. From 1808 the headquarters of the Spanish patriots, Cadiz was blockaded by the French from February 1810 until August 25, 1812, when the victories of Wellington forced them to raise the siege. It was captured in 1823 for Ferdinand VII. by the French, who held it till 1828; and it was the birthplace of the Spanish revolution of 1868, as well as the scene in 1873 of an Intransigente rising.