Spain · Andalusia · Cadiz
Santa María, Cadiz — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Flamenco classes run on Plaza de la Merced in Santa María, a barrio of Cádiz, Spain, held between the port and the Puerta de Tierra.
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Where to stay in Santa María
The practical side of choosing where to sleep.
Santa María covers the landward end of the old town of Cádiz, a close grid of houses on Calle Sopranis, Calle Santa María, and the lanes off Plaza de la Merced. Trains end at Plaza de Sevilla. A room here sits a few minutes from the Puerta de Tierra, with the Campo del Sur sea wall on one side and the working port on the other.
Stay in Santa María if you want the flamenco centre and the train platforms within one short walk.
Things to do in and around Cadiz
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- Museum of Cádiz Heritage
- Museo de las Cortes de Cádiz
- Museo del Títere
Churches & Religious Sites
6- Oratorio de San Felipe Neri Heritage
- Iglesia de Santa Cruz Heritage
- Convento de Nuestra Señora del Rosario y Santo Domingo Heritage
- Iglesia del Antiguo Convento de Nuestra Señora del Carmen y Santa Teresa Heritage
- Iglesia de San Lorenzo Heritage
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- Iglesia de San José Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
8- Castillo de Santa Catalina Heritage
- Puerta de Tierra Heritage
- Balneario de Nuestra Señora de la Palma y del Real Heritage
- Casa del Almirante Heritage
- Antiguo Hospital de Nuestra Señora del Carmen Heritage
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- Palacio de Mora Heritage
- Arco de la Rosa Heritage
- Arco del Pópulo Heritage
Landmarks & Notable Places
3- Casas de las Cuatro Torres Heritage
- Casa de las Cinco Torres Heritage
- Casa de Fragela
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Cadiz
About Santa María
What are the main landmarks in Santa María?
Santa María's convent churches anchor the barrio: the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Merced was finished in 1638 and rebuilt after the fire of 1936. The Convento de Nuestra Señora del Rosario y Santo Domingo closes the port side, its church finished in 1666. On Plaza de la Merced, the Centro Municipal de Arte Flamenco La Merced occupies the old market building.
Chano Lobato's statue stands outside. The old tobacco factory on Calle Plocia stands three storeys in exposed brick under glazed ceramic roofs, remodelled as the Palacio de Congresos.
What is the history of Santa María?
Santa María took shape in the fifteenth century, when the medieval walled town at El Pópulo overflowed its limits and building spread east. A chapel of Santa María, later a convent, gave the barrio its name. The Mercedarios Descalzos won a licence on 10 March 1629 to found in houses in the barrio, and the Dominicans followed on 14 July 1635 with a convent by the walls.
The state tobacco factory entered the old Alhóndiga on Calle Plocia in 1829. Torcuato Benjumeda designed the Cárcel Real. Its cells took prisoners from 1836, and the Merced convent came down in 1867 to open the square that holds the barrio's flamenco centre.
Where is Santa María?
Santa María is the southernmost of the historic-centre barrios of Cádiz, running from El Pópulo and Plaza de San Juan de Dios southeast to the Puerta de Tierra.
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More areas in Cadiz
Updated October 2026