Cadiz Torre Tavira watchtower, The City of Cadiz, Andalucia, Southern Spain

Torre Tavira

The Torre Tavira is a watchtower and the highest point in the city of Cádiz at 45 meters above sea level. It is located in the House-Palace of the Marqueses de Recaño (current Conservatory of Music of Cádiz) and was built in the eighteenth century in the Baroque style. It was designated official watchtower of the Cádiz port in 1778 as it was the highest in the city, it is named after the frigate lieutenant Don Antonio Tavira.

It currently houses a Cámera Obscura, a symbolic tourist attractions in the city. As well as two exhibition rooms and a viewpoint, from which the entire historic center of the city can be admired. The Cámera Obscura was inaugurated in 1994 and is made up of an optical system that reflects images on a white screen of the scenes outside.

The exhibition halls show the development of the city of Cádiz and its history in general and of the Tower in particular during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. You can also admire the original spyglass and the watchman’s daily book, as well as photographs from the nineteenth and current centuries that show the changes that the city has undergone.

In addition to all the rooftops of Cádiz, from the Torre Tavira you can also see Puerto Real, El Puerto de Santa María, Rota, Sancti Petri, and when the horizon is clear, the African coast. Its visual field extends to more than 100 km.