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When we ended our "Shippers to the Indies" walk, we returned to the ship with Greg for a late lunch. We relaxed for just a while, and then Fred and I disembarked again to see how much of the final Cadiz walk we could complete before it was time to return to the ship.

If you will open up the Castles and Bastions Route Map, use the horizontal scroll bar to go all the way to the right. You will be near the harbor and will see the orange walk coming up from the Tourist Center. Since there were no stops between the Tourist Center and the closest point to the ship, we just headed directly west from the ship to intersect the line before the first stop.

Stop 1: Murallas San Carlos

We picked up the yellow line right near the fountain in front of the Palacio de Disputacion and began to follow it as it crossed the plaza by a modern sculpture and headed up the street just east of Plaza de Espana.

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As we started out, I made a movie going by Plaza de Espana, and you can watch it with the player at left. Then we continued on to the Walls of San Carlos.

The San Carlos walls close in the neighborhood of the same name. Their construction was completed in 1784, according to the records kept by military workers on the project. These walls form a semi-bastion that was constructed at the end of the 18th Century by the military engineer Juan Caballero. From the middle of the 16th Century the San Felipe Bastion occupied part of this urban area. At the end of the 18th Century the governor of the city, Count O'Reilly, built the San Carlos district over this site, whose design follows Enlightment principles.

As we had done on the Cadiz Constitution walk (where the walls are also one of the stops), we came up on the east side of the point of the old fortification walls that points north towards the bay north of the old city. (See the aerial view at right.) Fred stopped to use his zoom lens to take a picture looking along the east wall towards the bay. At this point, there are some stairs up onto the battlement, although this morning we did not climb them. Both the blue line of the Cadiz Constitution walk and the yellow line of this Castles and Bastions walk took us ahead further along the wall and then to our left through a set of tunnels under the battlement to come out onto the street that runs along the east-west portion of the battlement. It was here that Fred took a picture of me looking along the San Carlos Walls. That's the yellow line on the aerial view above.

But we also wanted to get up onto the battlement, since we'd already been along this street, so we returned to the stairs and climbed up onto the top, and walked first towards the bay and then along it. This is the red line in the aerial view. The walls, as you saw earlier, had those turret-type affairs every so often. These were observation/firing positions, and you can see what one of them looked like from up on the walls here. As we continued west along the top of the walls, the street below us was sloping upward, so when we got to the west end of the wall we were back at street level. We took some pictures along this part of the walk, and there are clickable thumbnails below for them:

At the end of the walls we found ourselves at the beginning of the Alameda Apodaca.

Stop 2: Alameda Apodaca

We walked along the Walls of San Carlos for a ways until they ended, and then we continued to head west along the bay. We entered the Alameda Apodaca at the eastern end, and walked through it and along it until we turned left to head to our next stop in the city. The Alameda is a seaside park named in honor of Juan Ruiz de Apodaca, the last viceroy of Royal Spain.

We came down from the walls into the park as we walked along Rua Fermin Salvochea; the park itself, dating from the 17th century, is one of the most beautiful walks in the city.

The park originated from an area along the bay called Rota Caletilla, which in 1617 was transformed into mall. It was extended, beginning at the end of the wall of San Carlos and ended at the Presidium of the Candelaria. In the year 1750, it was transformed into the Alameda, and a baroque hall was built in 1840.

It has undergone several renovations, and the park reached its current form in 1926, when fountains and statuary were added. The most important monument in the Alameda Apodaca is the statue of the Marques de Comillas, who was a shipping magnate and constant promoter of Spanish-American relations. The statue was completed in 1922 and is a work of Antonio Parera.

There was also a statue of Brother Diego of Cadiz (1743-1801), a saint and moralist. The lush vegetation of the Alameda is also worthy of mention, with the flagship being the huge ficus tree located next to the Bastion de la Candelaria.

Below are some thumbnails for other interesting pictures we took here in the park:

Stop 3: Iglesia Nuestra Senora del Carmen y Santa Teresa

We continued walking eastward, leaving the Alameda but still walking along close to the water to find our next point of interest.

The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Teresa was begun six years after the arrival of the Carmelite Order in Cadiz in 1743, under the direction of master builder José Bolaños.

The church takes the form of a Latin cross, with a central nave that is higher than the sides; the sides of the nave contain numerous small chapels dedicated to those who supported the building of the church. The nave has a barrel vault and there is a wooden altarpiece- gilded in the rococo style- with the image of the Virgen del Carmen.

The facade is very slender, with three sections with pilasters, but leaving large spaces free of decoration. It concentrates on the cover of marble, with two Ionic columns, garlands of flowers and a relief of the Virgin of Carmen. Also noteworthy are the two belfries crowning the facade, which show all the fantasy of baroque decoration.

You can see another nice image of the facade here.

Stop 4: Baluarte de La Candelaria/Candelaria Bastion

We continued walking northwest, with the Iglesia del Carmen being on our left and the Candelaria Bastion on our right. We did not actually go out to the northernmost point of land of the peninsula on which the old city of Cadiz is situated- that is the actual Candelaria Bastion.

The Candelaria Bastion is the fortress of Cadiz. It was built, beginning in 1672, on a high point of land, and was the initiative of governor Diego Caballero de Illescas. Protected by a rugged wall that forms the breakwater, its guns commanded the port access channel.

The bastion contained barracks and an arsenal, in addition to the turrets and battlements normally found in such a fortress. It has been restored and is now used as cultural space. There are plans to create a sea museum which will host permanent exhibitions of Cadiz's place in Spain's seafaring endeavors. Below are clickable thumbnails for some additional pictures we took of the bastion:

Stop 5: Centro Cultural Reina Sofia (the old Pavilion of Engineers)

Just before we reached the west side of the peninsula and had to turn south along the ocean road, we came to the Centro Cultural Reina Sofia.

This 18th Century neoclassical building was built between 1758 and 1759 with the purpose of providing housing to the military engineers of the square and the bastion. The builder was Silvestre Abarca. The facade is decorated with pilasters and inside there is a courtyard with corridors and arches on marble columns. The building is notable also for its straight and slender tower.

Today, this building, which sits just south of the bastion and on the ocean, houses the Municipal Foundation of Culture, the Permanent Exhibition Vassallo, a space available to the Army, the Royal Academy Hispano, Fundación Federico Joly and the Ateneo de Cadiz. Out front, there is also an interesting modern sculpture.

Stop 6: Facultad de Filosofia y Letras (Faculty of Arts)

We must have missed this building altogether. Part of the University of Cadiz, it is a former barracks built in 1733, which has been renovated numerous times since, and is now a multi-purpose university building.

Stop 7: Parque Genoves

We rounded the corner by the Pavilion of Engineers and were now walking southwest along the ocean. We found ourselves at the beginning of the small Jardines Carlos III (Gardens of Carlos III).

Fred at the Gardens of Carlos III

Although located outside the Park Genovés and Alameda de Apodaca (between the two), the gardens of the Paseo de Carlos III form a real connection between them and form a continuous landscaped walk skirting the north and west sides of the old city of Cadiz. The present form of the Carlos III Garden is that of an isosceles triangle with its base just outside the entrance of Park Genoves. On the sea side, the garden is bordered by a balustrade- basically a continuation of the Alameda and its signature street lamps- and on the other by Paseo Carlos III (Carlos III Avenue).

Below are clickable thumbnails for a few more pictures taken in the Gardens of Carlos III:

Between the Gardens of Carlos III and the north end of Parque Genoves, we reached the midpoint of the Castles and Bastions. walk (where we found this sign). Then we entered Parque Genoves.

Genovés Park is the largest, the most historically important and, to hear the locals tell it, the most interesting and relaxing in Cadiz. It has its origins towards the end of the 1700s, although throughout its history it has undergone numerous expansions and renovations.

Fred in Parque Genoves

In the late eighteenth century, the park was created on the land located between the headquarters of the old cemetery and town pumping station and the wall that bordered the sea. It was a poorly-kept area that was popularly known as the Paseo del Parsley, which gives one an idea of the modesty of its gardens. In 1854, the park was extended, and later renamed Paseo de las Delicias. The reason for the extension was the cholera epidemic Cadiz suffered at the time; it was a public works project to give work to those who needed it.

In 1863 the park was pretty much demolished, the site re-prepared and then repopulated with leafy trees of different species, which were dominated (according to contemporaneous documents) by American Cypress. In 1875 and because of the spacious and well-done park renovations, it became the site for the yearly holiday commemorating the evening of the Angels. A further remodeling was carried out in 1892 by the Valencian horticulturist Geronimo Puig i Genovés; in his honor, the name of the park was changed to the current Genovés Park.

His renovations were based on the old garden layout, but he expanded the so-called "Forest Army," providing it with fountains, a waterfall with lake, a concert hall and cafe, and a much greater variety of plant species- some of them of great rarity and beauty. He installed the sculpture fountain "Children Under the Umbrella," which was brought from Paris. There are also several sculptures dedicated to Celestino Mutis, the Duchess of Victoria (a noble lady who left Cadiz and gave up her comfortable, pleasant life to care for the wounded from the war in Morocco). Also worth noting is the monument dedicated to the great naturalist Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente.

In the late 19th Century, a performing theatre was added; its metal structure was the work of Gustave Eiffel. There was also another theater for summer productions; it was named after José María Pemán (his statue is also in the park). There was even a famous nightclub- the Cortijo de los Rosales- in the park, but it closed in 1970.

Fred in Parque Genoves

The park has a more or less trapezoidal, bordering the Atlantic and Gonzalez Tablas street- where the main entrance is. The door on the north side, where we entered, gives access to a broad central avenue, divided into three blocks by two rows of symmetrical parterres, with common cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) in the corners, a California cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) in the center (all manicured English style), and, between both species, date palms (Phoenix dactylifera). The rest of the park is characterized by its asymmetry, which manifests itself in the diverse forms of the beds and the irregular layout of the walks. There are more than 100 different species of trees and shrubs here, and many of them are found nowhere else in Cadiz.

One of the favorite places for all visitors is The Pit, a lake and waterfall with live ducks and geese. Oddly, the small lake is populated also by dinosaur sculptures. Visitors can get up on top of the waterfall, and from there one has good views of the Atlantic Ocean and north and south along the coast. There is also a tunnel that goes underneath the waterfall, and this, too, is a park favorite- particularly for kids.

Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the other pictures we took here in Parque Genoves;

If you are a horticulturist, you might be interested in knowing some of the plant species found in Parque Genoves. Here is a partial list:

Common cypress (Cupressus sempervirens)	California Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa)
Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)	Enough cassava (Yucca aloifolia)
Cassava (Yucca gloriosa)	Cotyledon (Cotyledon orbiculata)
Dragon's Agave (Agave attenuata)	Japanese bush (Portulacaria afra)
Crásula (Crassula arborescens)	Aloe (Aloe ciliaris)
Schefflera (Heptapleurum arboricola)	Duranta (Duranta repens)
Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora)	Duster (Cortaderia selloana)
Tree of Love (Cersis siliquastrum)	Aralia (Oreopanax capitatus)
Maple (Acer negundo)	Privet (Ligustrum japonicum)
Araucaria (Araucaria excelsa)	Dragon tree (Dracaena draco)
Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis)	Casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia)
Pink Bignonia (Podranea ricasoliana)	Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea glabra)
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus)	Red Bignonia (Tecomaria capensis)
Aspen (Populus tremula)	Opuntia (Opuntia vulgaris)
Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis)	Cica (Cycas revoluta)
ichardia (Washingtonia robusta)	Washingtonia (Washingtonia filifera)
Hackberry (Celtis australis)	Elm (Ulmus sp.)
Veronica (Hebe speciosa)	White poplar (Populus alba)
Spindle (Eyonymus japonicus)	Palo borracho (Chorisia speciosa)
Alexandrian Laurel (Ruscus hypoglossum)	Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus)
Corifa (Livistona australis)	Algarrobo (Ceratonia siliqua)
Laurel (Laurus nobilis)	Tapeworm (Muehlembeckia platycada)
India's Laurel (Ficus microcarpa)	False pepper (Schinus molle)
Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica)	Mimosa (Acacia cyanophylla)
White Salt (Atriplex halimus)	Marjoram (Majorana hortensis)
White mulberry (Morus alba)	Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Izote (Yucca elephantipes)	Brilliant (Coprosma baueri)
Flag of Spain (Lantana camara)	Cylindrical Opuntia (Opuntia subulata)
Bitter orange (Citrus aurantium)	Pitósporo (Pittosporum tobira)
Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)	Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia)
Fig (Ficus carica)	Quince (Cydonia oblonga)
Ombu (Phytolacca dioica)	Metrosidero (Metrosideros tomentosus)
Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)	Coculo (Cocculus laurfolius)
Pomegranate (Punica granatum)	Lira Ficus (Ficus lyrata)

The rarest species in the park is the New Holland Sago (Cycas circinalis).

I found the waterfall and the dinosaurs a really neat feature, and we spent a good deal of time wandering around there.

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One of the first things I did when we got to the waterfall was to make a movie of it. You can watch it with the player at left. As you can see, a twenty-five foot cliff has been built, and the water comes across the top of it to fall in the kidney-bean-shaped lake that surrounds its base. In and around the lake are a number of different dinosaur sculptures- sadly, not life-size.

Here are some clickable thumbnails for three more of our "dinosaur pictures:"

There was a path that went around the side of the artificial cliff and there we found stairs up to the top. We went on up and was rewarded with nice views of the ocean and down into the artificial lake.

Back down at the bottom of the stairs we found that the path continued into the hollow interior of the artificial cliff where you could get behind the waterfall, so of course we went in.

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There were some kids running in and out of the little artificial cave making a good deal of noise, but I made a movie anyway; you can watch it with the player at right.

And, although they aren't anything you haven't already seen, Fred took a couple of pictures through the "windows" behind the waterfall, and there are clickable thumbnails for them below:

By this point, we were at the south end of the Parque Genoves, so we went back out to the avenue to pick up the yellow line again.

Stop 8: Plaza Fragela

At the south end of Parque Genoves, we noted from the route map for the Castles and Bastions walk that we would need to make a "spur" detour to Plaza Fragela. We decided that since time was growing a bit short, we would continue on down the coast to the last few stops and then work in Plaza Fragela on our way back across the northern end of the old city to the ship. That's what we actually did, but I will include our pictures taken there here, as if we had done the stops of the walk in order.

Fragela Square should be considered together with Alfonso XII Square, now called Plaza de Falla. In 1866 the quiet little square was transformed with the building of the famous Grand Theatre (1868 - 1910), and the installation of lush gardens and trees; iron benches were donated by a patron of the city. On April 23, 1873, the newly transformed square was given the name of Plaza de Sevilla- a name that would last only a short time.

Today, the square is again undergoing a transformation intended to restore the old appearance (including refashioning the gardens, which had gone downhill as the congestion of the city increased. In this square, in addition to the theatre, are a notable building originally called the Widows House for the obvious reason, the building housing the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Cadiz (the oldest in Spain) and the Military Chapel. Off to the side we didn't visit there is probably the only public sculpture I have ever heard of that honors an ophthalmologist (D. Cayetano del Toro); I should have known so I could have gotten a picture.

You may find them repetitive, but we took some additional pictures of the sides and back of the Gran Teatro, and there are clickable thumbnails below for them:

Stop 9: Castillo de Santa Catalina

We continued on south along the ocean following the yellow line to the next point of interest- Fort Santa Catalina. On the way, we passed a number of buildings belonging to the University of Cadiz, including a building at the corner of the street that we would eventually take back through Plaza Frangela and on to the ship. You can see that building here. We also passed a statue whose bronze plaque said was a gift to the city of Cadiz from the people of Venezuela, and you can see that statue of Simon Bolivar (naturally) here.

This brought us to the beginning of a beach/boat harbor, just east of Fort Santa Catalina. We saw a lot from this vantage point, so I thought I'd give you an aerial view of the area so you'd know what we were looking at. That view is at left.

We'd come down the Avenida Duque de Najera to a point just past the street that led to Fort Santa Catalina. Here, a wide paved area began that ran in an arc south and around the beach/bay/boat harbor known as Playa la Caleta. The area was very busy, but as you can see, the tide was out and many of the little boats that seem to be usually tied up here (mostly at the north end of the area) were high and dry.

It took me a while to figure out what was so unusual about this beach scene, but even when I did, I was at a loss for an explanation (and I still am). Perhaps it has occurred to you. If not, take a look at this picture that Fred took of me along the beach south of here early this morning when we were beginning our first walk (click here). See it now? I can't recall ever seeing a picture of people at the beach when there were no waves at all (unless the beach was on a lake, perhaps). This didn't seem like an inviting place, what with the tide out and all, but there were lots of people walking around on what I can only assume was mud, and seeming to have a good time doing it.

Actually, looking closely at the pictures, the bottom of the inlet might actually be rock, in which case walking around on it wouldn't be as gross as I might have thought, but still, you'd think people would find a beach that isn't unusable half the day (when the tide is out).

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One of the first things I did from our overlook here was to make a movie of the entire scene, and you can have a look at it with the player at right.

And because I thought the scenes of a beach with lots of people and not much water to speak of was so interesting, I want to include more of the pictures we took from here. There are clickable thumbnails below for them:

From this vantage point, we could see the 9th and 10th points of interest on the Castles and Bastions walk. One of them, Fort San Sebastian (seen here from our vantage point across the bay), would be the one point that we wouldn't have time to get to. We could see how far away it was, and even a quick calculation told us we'd be cutting it too close if we tried to get down there. We did take some other pictures of it from here and from Fort Santa Catalina, but I'll put them in the next section devoted to that point of interest. Looking in the other direction, just off to our right, we could also see Fort Santa Catalina, sticking out into the bay just a few hundred feet away. That fort we would have time to visit, and we'll do so in a moment. But first, I want to include here a very nice panorama that Fred made by stitching some pictures together, and it is below:

It was time to head over to the Castillo de Santa Catalina for a look around. You can see most of Fort Santa Catalina behind Fred in this picture I took just before we headed over there from our vantage point overlooking the beach. We headed down the walkway to the fort, stopping so Fred could take my picture with a really interesting sculpture. Then we continued walking down to the entrance to Fort Santa Catalina.

The Castillo de Santa Catalina is one of the fortresses of Cadiz; this one is located in La Caleta and juts out into the sea on a breakwater. Apparently, the people of Cadiz did not want the fort, but it was built anyway in the late 16th Century using plans drawn by the engineer Cristobal de Rojas. It is a pentagonal plan with the points of the star jutting out into the sea. It is now a cultural center, used to display art installations (some of which you'll see in our pictures), host film festivals, and the like.

After the Anglo-Dutch assault in 1596, Philip II ordered Cristobal de Rojas to build a defensive fortress through a Royal Decree on 25 October of 1597, but he died before the project was completed, and the final work was not as ambitious as projected. During the reign of Charles II, in 1693, a chapel (the one shown here is a restoration) and sacristy were built. The chapel was dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria and the Immaculate Conception.

In 1769, Carlos III established a military prison in the fort. Over the years, a number of different groups of people were held here, most of them having been involved in the wars of independence for the Spanish colonies in America. Most recently, some of the people involved in the attempted coup in 1981. (The attempted coup d'état began on 23 February 1981 and ended on the following day. Its most visible figure, Antonio Tejero, led a group of 200 armed officers of the Guardia Civil into the Spanish Congress of Deputies during the process of electing Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo to be the country's new Prime Minister. King Juan Carlos I gave a nationally televised address denouncing the coup and urging the maintenance of law and the continuance of the democratically elected government. The coup soon collapsed. After holding the Parliament and cabinet hostage for 18 hours the hostage-takers surrendered the next morning without having harmed anyone.) Military use of the fort ended in 1991.

Below are clickable thumbnails for some of the pictures that we took while we wandered up and down the walls, out to the turrets at the points of the star, and inside the Fort of Santa Catalina:

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Just after we entered the fort, Fred made a good movie panning all around inside the central area of the compound. You can watch his movie with the player at left.

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And while we were out at one of the walls near the ocean, I made a movie panning around the beach area, Fort San Sebastian and the ocean. Watch it with the player at right.

Stop 10: Puerta de la Caleta y Castillo de San Sebastian (Fort San Sebastian)

Although we didn't have time to actually visit it, I thought I'd tell you a little about Fort San Sebastian anyway.

Fort San Sebastian from Fort Santa Catalina

The Castillo de San Sebastian is another of the fortresses that protected the city of Cadiz; it is located at the south end of the beach of La Caleta on a small island. According to the classical tradition, this island was once the home of the Temple of Moloch/Kronos.

The San Sebastian Lighthouse

In 1457, a shrine was built on the island by the crew of a Venetian ship recovering from the plague. In 1706 work began to build a castle that gave rise to an irregular fortified plant defending the northern flank of the city. During Moorish control of Spain, a Muslim watchtower was built; it was torn down and eventually, using its foundation, an iron lighthouse, designed by Rafael de la Cerda, was built in 1908. It towers 120 feet above sea level and still stands today.

In 1860, the city built a boardwalk to link the island and the center of the city, and the entire complex was declared a national cultural monument in 1985.

Stop 11: Barrio de la Vina

This was the other stop on the Castles and Bastions walk that we did not have time to investigate. It is, apparently, one of the interesting neighborhoods of Cadiz, bounded by Rose and Sagasta streets. The name of the neighborhood is related to its past as a place to where wine grapes were grown. By the 18th Century, the vineyards had all but disappeared due to the population growth experienced in the city following the boom of trade with America.

The Walk Ends

Our fourth and final walk through Cadiz ended when we left For Santa Catalina, and now all we had to do was make our way back to the ship; we had just about an hour to do it, so no problem.

Our Route Back to the Ship

We walked took a shortcut back to the main street and walked just a bit north towards Parque Genoves, turning east on Calle Sacramento. We took that street east to Calle Sagasta; this took us through Plaza San Francisco and then we were just a few blocks from the harbor and the Oosterdam

Walking back, I found it really amazing how different the neighborhoods and streets are here in the old city of Cadiz. You can see what I mean if you watch the two movies I made on the way back- one on Calle Sacramento and one on Calle Segasta:

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