Abstract
Abstract. The city of Cadiz, located in a peninsula, was initially defended by its only land access through a wall of land extended from coast to coast across the isthmus; this access was erected at the beginning of the 16th century. After being devastated by an Anglo-Dutch attack in 1596 (where they had access by this flank), Felipe II decided to rebuild the city and this defensive element. Furthermore, after the Spanish War of Succession, Puerta Tierra [Land Gate] experienced a considerable metamorphosis that would complete its integration in the first quarter of the 18th century, becoming now a complete defensive system that would protect one of the most important squares of the Kingdom of Spain. In this sense, this work can be considered one of the most representative examples of the application of military treatises based on the ideas developed by the French marshal Vauban and applied by the Spanish engineer Ignacio Sala. This research focuses on the defensive elements whose works, which were developed between approximately 1730 and 1760, involved large earthworks and an intensive use of the oyster stones, resulting in the final configuration of the work. The analysis developed below is based on the plans prepared by the Spanish engineers involved in this construction.
Highlights
Cadiz is located at the end of a long isthmus that connects the city with Isla de Leon and, with the rest of the province of Cadiz
The city always lived under threat, as corroborated by the numerous attacks suffered throughout history, mainly due to two factors: on the one hand, the magnificent strategic location near the Strait of Gibraltar; on the other hand, as soon as the Casa de Contratacion was moved from Seville in 1717, the city centralized the trading with America, becoming the gateway to all the wealth that financed the needs of the Kingdom during the Modern Age (Arévalo Rodríguez, 2013)
In response to these threats and after its evolution throughout the Modern Age, the city would eventually become one of the greatest places of the Kingdom of Spain (Fernández Cano, 1973). All this effort turned the city into a defensive belt surrounded by walls, castles and bulwarks, being Puerta Tierra a prominent place that protected the city access by land
Summary
Cadiz is located at the end of a long isthmus that connects the city with Isla de Leon and, with the rest of the province of Cadiz. The city always lived under threat, as corroborated by the numerous attacks suffered throughout history, mainly due to two factors: on the one hand, the magnificent strategic location near the Strait of Gibraltar; on the other hand, as soon as the Casa de Contratacion was moved from Seville in 1717, the city centralized the trading with America, becoming the gateway to all the wealth that financed the needs of the Kingdom during the Modern Age (Arévalo Rodríguez, 2013) In response to these threats and after its evolution throughout the Modern Age, the city would eventually become one of the greatest places of the Kingdom of Spain (Fernández Cano, 1973).
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