Arco de los Blanco - Cadiz - Andalusia

The Arc dels Blancos is a remnant of an ancient Roman gate . Originally known as Puerta de Tierra, it was located next to the villa's castle.

As with the Arc del Pópulo, several structures have been added to the original fixture, changing its original appearance. Above the broad vault forming the lid is the Bianco or Blanco family , from which the lid takes its current name.
In the 17th century , Felipe Blanco's family built a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Remedies over the main arch, which no longer exists. The outer portal, corresponding to the main entrance or porta de terra of the medieval city with pointed arches, must have been built at the same time as the rest of the fortress and citadel. It gave access to the royal butchers ' shops, including part of the outbuildings on top of the remains of the Roman theater of Gades. Only the back of the building survives , as the facade must have been demolished in the 16th century to widen the street.

In its first period it was called Puerta de Tierra because it faced the schooner or isthmus. Later it was called Santa María , as it gave way to this suburb. The gate was flanked by two unequal towers. The southern tower was one of the cubes of the adjacent castle (Castillo de la Villa).

Above it was an alabaster statue of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios , a statue of Italian origin, possibly dating to the mid-16th century.

Having no military significance , the wall and its gates closed only a very small part of the city, this was the arch that suffered the most from abandonment , to the point of imminent ruin, and it required serious restoration in 1602.

Around 1621, the Blanco family , one of the most important merchant families in Cádiz and later members of the Cabildo, asked permission to build a chapel at their expense, as was done in the Puerta del Pópulo, with vaults and between the built ones towers.

The chapel was completed in 1635, a date noted on the Ave Maria in front of Carrer del Mesón Nou. This chapel was built in the form of a roof with a bell tower , so it opened onto Carrer de la Carniceria or de la Misericordia, where it was supported by three arches resting on corbels and white marble columns.

Willem Vandenameele