Although the origin of the dark chambers is not known with certainty, the term cámara (house) comes from Arabic language. It was introduced for the first time by the Arab physicist and astronomer Alhacén (Ibn-i Heysem) that is considered the father of optics for his work and experiments with lenses, mirrors on reflection and refraction in the first half of the 11th century. He was aware of the way of the formation of the optical image by the sun rays that pass through a small hole without mixing up one with another. It was Leonarda da Vinci in 15th century that made the first complete and illustrated description of the operation of the camera obscura (dark room). Furthermore, he used the principle of the camera obscura in order to explain how the image could form in the eye.

In 17th century Robert Hooke used concave screens in the camera obscuras to reproduce the curved shape of the retina in the eye. He also produced the first portable camera obscura in the form of a drawing table that consisted of a large wooden box with a lens at its front side. When it was directed to a landscape, its image was reflected on a glass at the top of the box, so that the image could be copied on a transparent cardboard. In the 17th century Zahn published a book about camera obscuras in that he explained the system of the model that didn´t change until the invention of photography in the 19th century.

During the 17th to 19th century camera obscuras were widely used by topographers, painters and travelers. 

The Edificio Gómez Vila was constructed for the Ministry of Foreign Trade and it was completed in 1909. Since 2002 it is the property of the firm Phoenix. With a height of 35 meters, it is the tallest building in Palaza Vieja. The Cámara Oscura was inaugurated at the top of this yellow building in 2001. It was the donation of the Provincial Council of Cádiz to Cuba.

In the Cámara Oscura the live images are captured by means of a periscope that is placed on a tower of about 4 meters on the top of the building and reflected on a concave screen in the dark room. Although it seems that the visitor is facing with the latest technology, the design of the system is based on the works of Leonardo Da Vinci from the 15th century. The operation of the system is based on the principles of light reflection through the use of two lenses and a mirror located on the periscope. It is an optical phenomenon that was discovered by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle in the 4th century B.C.. He formulated that by making a small hole at the wall of a dark room; the entering light beam would draw the inverted image of the outside on the opposite wall. Similar observations are found in the texts of some Chinese philosophers from the 5th century.