[5][6] In the 18th century, the Port in the Bay of Cádiz consolidated as the main harbour of mainland Spain, enjoying the virtual monopoly of trade with the Americas until 1778.

It is characterized by the antiquity of its various quarters (barrios), among them El Pópulo, La Viña, and Santa María, which present a marked contrast to the newer areas of town.

While the Old City's street plan consists of narrow winding alleys connecting large plazas, newer areas of Cádiz typically have wide avenues and more modern buildings.

The city is dotted with parks where exotic plants flourish, including giant trees supposedly brought to the Iberian Peninsula from the New World.

Rarely, as in Stephanus of Byzantium's notes on the writings of Eratosthenes, is the name given in the feminine singular form as hè Gadeíra (ἡ Γαδείρα).

The same root also gives the modern Italian Càdice, Catalan Cadis,[10] Portuguese Cádis,[11] and French Cadix, the last also appearing in many English sources before the 20th century.

While the ancient ruins of Gadir beneath modern Cádiz's historical center remain largely unexcavated, excavations have been carried out in the southern cemeteries.

The Phoenician settlement traded with Tartessos, a city-state whose exact location remains unknown but is thought to have been somewhere near the mouth of the Guadalquivir River.

[24] In Greek mythology, Hercules was sometimes credited with founding Gadeira after performing his tenth labor, the slaying of Geryon, a monster with three heads and torsos joined to a single pair of legs.

Cádiz became a depot for Hannibal's conquest of southern Iberia, and he sacrificed there to Hercules/Melqart before setting off on his famous journey in 218 BC to cross the Alps and invade Italy.

Suetonius relates how Julius Caesar, when visiting Gades as a quaestor (junior senator), saw a statue of Alexander the Great there and was saddened to think that he himself, though the same age, had still achieved nothing memorable.

[24] By the time of Augustus's census, Cádiz was home to more than five hundred equites (members of the wealthy upper class), a concentration rivaled only by Patavium (Padua) and Rome itself.

The poet Juvenal begins his famous tenth satire with the words: Omnibus in terris quae sunt a Gadibus usque Auroram et Gangen ('In all the lands which exist from Gades as far as Dawn and the Ganges ...').

[34] Classical sources are entirely silent on such a structure, but it has been conjectured that the origin of the legend was the ruins of a navigational aid constructed in late antiquity.

[35] Abd-al-Mumin (or Admiral Ali ibn-Isa ibn-Maymun) found that the idol was gilded bronze rather than pure gold, but coined what there was to help fund his revolt.

[36] In 1217, according to the De itinere Frisonum the city was raided by a group of Frisian crusaders en route to the Holy Land who burned it and destroyed its congregational mosque.

Finally, when the royal authorities refused to pay a ransom demanded by the English for returning the city intact, they burned much of it before leaving with their booty.

In the 1702 Battle of Cádiz, the English attacked again under George Rooke and James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, but they were repelled after a costly siege.

In the 18th century, the sand bars of the Guadalquivir forced the Spanish government to transfer its American trade from Seville to Cádiz, which now commanded better access to the Atlantic.

Although the empire itself was declining, Cádiz now experienced another golden age because of its new importance, and many of today's historic buildings in the Old City date from this era.

The houses which face the plaza, many of which can be classified as neo-classical architecture or built in the style of Isabelline Gothic, were originally occupied by the Cádiz bourgeoisie.

The square is surrounded by a number of mansions built in neo-classical architecture or Isabelline Gothic style, once occupied by the Cádiz upper classes.

The exterior is sheathed in exquisite red and white Genoan marble, prepared in the workshops of Andreoli, and mounted by the master, García Narváez.

Protected by a seaward-facing wall that had previously served as a seawall, Candelaria's cannons were in a position to command the channels approaching the port of Cádiz.

[66] Key characteristics include: These features make the Cádiz accent unique, showcasing a strong influence of regional and urban speech patterns.

Typically, a chirigota is composed of seven to twelve performers[71] who sing, act and improvise accompanied by guitars, kazoos, a bass drum, and a variety of noise-makers.

The Concurso Oficial de Agrupaciones Carnavalescas (the official association of carnival groups) sponsors a contest in the Gran Teatro Falla (see above) each year where chirigotas and other performers compete for prizes.

Also, because Cádiz is built on a sandspit, it is a costly proposition to sink foundations deep enough to support the high-rise buildings that would allow for a higher population density.

A 17th-century watchtower, the Tavira Tower, still commands a panoramic view of the city and the bay despite its relatively modest 45 meters (148 ft) height.

The connection to the Madrid-Seville high-speed rail line was finished in 2015 after 14 years of construction, which extends the high speed Alvia trains to the city.