History of Rota
The strategic situation of Rota, opposite Cadiz at the entrance of the bay, has for thousands of years made it an attractive place for people of many different cultures.
The Phoenicians and Tartesians, at the beginning of civilized times, knew Rota as “Astaroth” – a reference to the noise made by the sea on stormy days as it breaks against the rocks of the reef.
Its name in Roman times was “Speculum Rotae”, an allusion to the reflection of the houses on the water of the bay. The Arabic name was “Rabita Ruta”. In the middle ages, this became Rota.
