Muelle de Norte
by Saskia Mier
Muelle de Norte is one of the many docks that for part of the Port of Huelva, located within the estuary between Huelva and Palos de la Frontera. In 1969 it became the first autonomous port of the country.
In the Tartessian period there existed an important trade in precious metals such as gold, silver and copper from Cuenca Minera and down the Rio Tinto to Huelva. This area became a port of exchange within the Eastern Mediterranean (especially Phoenicians and Greeks).
It was in the fifteenth century when the ports of Moguer and Palos de la Frontera became the starting point for the routes to the Azores, Canary Islands, the coasts of Africa and the American continent.
The arrival in the Cuenca Minera of several English mining companies caused a transformation of the port by building docking facilities such as the Muelle de Rio Tinto, Muelle de Tharsis and Muelle de Levante. These transformed the old fishing port into an industrial one. Muelle de Norte along with some others,were connected to the railroad tracks thus allowing the direct disembarkation of the ore from ships moored in the port.
Located at Puente Pt Muelle de Levante.
