Sanlucar de Barrameda
Sanlucar sits at the mouth of the Guadalquivir and for centuries controlled access to the river port of Seville. The town still preserves a clear division between the upper town (Barrio Alto) and the lower, seafaring quarter (Barrio Bajo).
In the Barrio Alto the Castle of Santiago (15th century) dominates the town and the river mouth. Nearby stands the Palacio de Medina Sidonia, long-time residence of the dukes who held the lordship of the town. In the lower town the old market streets, especially Calle Bretones, and several merchant houses survive. The Casa Arizon (18th century) is a classic example: patio, private chapel, warehouses and a lookout tower from which the arrival of the fleets could be watched. Among the religious foundations the most notable are the convents of Madre de Dios, La Victoria, San Francisco and Santo Domingo. The Convent of Madre de Dios is particularly worth seeking out.
Puerto de Santa Maria
Puerto de Santa Maria shows early connections with the first voyages of discovery and later became an important secondary port in the Cadiz Bay system. Local tradition holds that Columbus stayed in the Castle of San Marcos (a 13th-century fortified church built on the site of a mosque) when he sought support from the Dukes of Medinaceli.
The Monastery of La Victoria was founded by Bernard Boil, often regarded as the first missionary to the New World. In the 17th and 18th centuries the town filled with merchant houses and public buildings linked to the American trade. Notable survivors include the Fuente de las Galeras, the Royal Customs House (Real Aduana), and a series of trading residences such as the houses of Vizarron, Rivas, Aranibar, Valdivieso, Roque Aguado and the Palacio de Villareal. The Fuente de las Galeras remains one of the most atmospheric public spaces from that period.
Cadiz – capital of the Atlantic trade
In the 18th century Cadiz became the principal Spanish port for the American trade. The city’s silhouette is still defined by the chain of castles, bastions and lookout towers built between the 17th and 18th centuries. At one point Cadiz possessed around 160 of these miradores, from which the arrival of the fleets could be watched.
Institutional buildings
Key administrative buildings of the American trade survive in the historic centre. These include the Real Aduana, the Casa de Contratacion (in Calle San Francisco) and the Consulate of the Merchants of the Indies (in Calle Rubio y Diaz). All date from the 18th century and testify to the period when the harbour was crowded with galleons and sailing ships.
Religious buildings
Among the religious foundations, the most important are the Convent of Santo Domingo and the Church of El Rosario (17th–18th centuries). The Virgin of El Rosario became patron of both the city and the Route to the Indies; an image known as La Galeona travelled with the fleets. The monumental Cathedral was largely financed by wealth from America. Other significant churches include El Carmen and San Felipe Neri, where the Constitution of 1812 was proclaimed — an event with lasting consequences for the Spanish-speaking world.
Merchant houses and lookout towers
The characteristic domestic architecture of 18th-century Cadiz is the merchant house with one or more lookout towers. Outstanding examples include the Casa del Almirante (Plaza San Juan de Dios), the Casa de las Cadenas, the Casa de las Cuatro Torres, the houses on Calle Sopranis, and the Casa de Tavira, which still has the highest surviving mirador in the city. Many of these houses belonged to traders or officers of the fleets.
Useful reference points in the historic centre include Calle San Francisco, Calle Rubio y Diaz, the Convent of Santo Domingo, the Oratorio de la Santa Cueva, the Casa del Almirante, the Casa de las Cuatro Torres and Torre Tavira.
