Cadiz

Cadiz is a city in the region of Andalusia, located at the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula. It is especially important for its harbour, which has been transformed over the centuries, into a predominantly commercial center, dedicated to intense sea traffic. The city’s history begins with the first Phoenician settlements on the coast, while the Roman conquest made ?it a rich and prosperous place. In the Middle Ages, however, mercantile activity and the urban population dropped dramatically. The battles between Arabs and Christians during the Reconquista ended in the mid-thirteenth century, with the incorporation of Cadiz into the Crown of Castile. Since then, the Spanish monarchs made ??it one of the main ports and royal shipyards, a leading player in the age of great geographical discoveries. Newly at the centre of commercial networks, Cadiz emerged as the second largest port on the Atlantic, after Seville, and also as an important basis of trade in the Mediterranean.