GUADIX  , a

city of southern Spain, in the province of Granada; on the left bank of the river Guadix, a subtributary of the Guadiana Menor, and on the Madrid-Valdepenas-Almeria railway . Pop . (1900) 12,652 . Guadix occupies part of an elevated plateau among the northern foothills of the Sierra Nevada . It is surrounded by ancient walls, and was formerly dominated by a Moorish castle, now in ruins . It is an episcopal see of great antiquity, but its cathedral, built in the 18th century on the site of a mosque, possesses little architectural merit . The city was once famous for its cutlery; but its modern manufactures (chiefly earthenware, hempen goods, and hats) are inconsiderable . It has some trade in wool, cotton, flax, corn and liqueurs . The warm mineral springs of Graena, much frequented during the summer, are 6 m . W . Guadix el Viejo, 5 M . N.W., was the Roman Acci, and, according to tradition, the seat of the first Iberian bishopric, in the 2nd century .

After 711 it

rose to some importance as a Moorish fortress and trading station, and was renamed Wad Ash, " Water of Life." It was surrendered without a siege to the Spaniards, under Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1489 .