After a short swim, too many waves, I decided to visit the Iglesia de Santa Cruz. It is essentially the Catedral Vieja and is next to the Catedral Nueva . The original thirteenth century church was, as per usual, built on top of a mosque, and was almost destroyed by the Earl of Essex during the English assault on Cádiz in 1596, so the current church is effectively a seventeenth century rebuild with only occasional vestiges such as the entrance arch surviving from the earlier Gothic structure. The sober grey stone interior contrasts with the magnificent seventeenth century gilded retablo, a beautiful work with sculptures by Martínez Montañés, as is the Capilla de los Genoveses, its own stunning retablo of red, white and black Italian marble now wonderfully restored.
I found the church to be welcoming and spent some time there listening to a mass before heading for cerveza by the market then braving Carrefour where I encountered some very friendly people which was just as well, as the queues were horrendous. I learnt that mussels are good for the red blood cells. Full of iron. Is this true?
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