Cadiz - a Spanish wedding!

Cadiz was our ninth port since we left Amsterdam and we had been sightseeing every day.  By this time, we had been on the cruise for 10 days without a single sea day.  Not that I'm complaining but it would have been nice to have a sea day in the middle for a break.  Most people used Cadiz as the hop off point for a tour of Seville but we had been to Seville before so decided to stay and have a relaxing day in Cadiz - it was also a very hot day.

Cadiz is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe.  We knew we wouldn't be disappointed if we hung around and just wandered the streets for a few hours.  And we were right! It was a Sunday and also happened to be an important Catholic feast day so we were fêted with the sight of Cadiz' important people in procession down the cobbled streets.  The only negative was we didn't get to go inside the Cathedral for that same reason.  But we figured we'd seen enough Cathedrals for a while and there would be more in Barcelona, so it was not a huge loss.

We lucked out again when we hit a small old church around the corner from the Cathedral.  This turned out to be the old Cathedral, the Iglesia Santa Cruz dating back to the 13th century.  A wedding party was on its way but we were allowed inside.  In fact, we could have stayed for the ceremony as some tourists did.  The hosts were very relaxed about who attended their party even though at least one side was from the military establishment.  I wondered if this was the case everywhere else in Spain.  And what a find that was! Some of the guests were glamorous - great subjects for some nice shots on their way in and then again on their way out after the ceremony when we were on our way back from the ancient Roman amphitheatre.  The Spanish wedding made my day!

In the Plaza de Espana, the monument to the 1812 Spanish Constitution with allegorical figures of War, Peace, Agriculture and Industry.  It was significant because Cadiz was where Spain's first national sovereign assembly took refuge during the Peninsula War and this was essentially Spain's first constitution.

     

The narrow streets of Cadiz

Religious procession

The Plaza de la Flores, a rather unusual place to find a statue of the Roman agronomist Columela

The Cathedral

Nice surprise - Henry Moore in Cadiz!  This one appropriately named "Knife edge"

Looked great amidst the old stone

Cathedral Plaza Sunday morning (above) and Sunday afternoon (below)

We practically followed these wedding guests to the old Cathedral

Iglesia Santa Cruz used to be the old Cathedral from the 13th century, rebuilt in the 18th

Bridal party arriving

Married!  Note how guards stopped the couple from proceeding

Yes, they had to kiss first

then the Champagne

 Some of the wedding party and guests...

Mrs. Peacock?

Related?

After all that excitement, the ancient roman amphitheatre was almost an anti-climax...

 

The tunnel under the theatre

This amphitheatre (discovered in 1980) likely dated from the 1st century BC and considered one of the largest ever built in the Roman Empire.  According to Wikipedia, it was one of the few Roman structures mentioned by classical authors, including Cicero and Strabo.

Houses built around the amphitheatre - this reminded me of the one we saw in Durres, Albania

Spectacular sunset - last one over the Atlantic before we rounded the corner of Europe and entered the Mediterranean

Finally, a much needed sea day before we hit Barcelona!