Seville city walls had 166 watchtowers and nine gates, the Torre de Oro can still be seen today.
Alcazar
| Barrio Santa Cruz | Casa
de Pilatos | Cathedral | City
Walls & Gates | Giralda
City Walls & Gates
by Fiona Flores Watson
As you arrive in the city, look out for remnants
of ancient stone walls marooned in the centre of busy roads, plus
an impressive, well-preserved 400-metre section in Macarena, near
the Andalucian parliament building. These are the remains of the
city walls, or murallas, dating from the 12th century - Seville
was once the most strongly fortified city in Europe.
It was the Romans, probably under Julius Caesar,
who constructed the first city defences. But the Almoravids, Moors
who ruled Andalucia in the 11th and 12th centuries, were responsible
for the simple but effective 6km-long walls. They were designed
to defend the city against both enemy attacks and frequent floods
from the river Guadalquivir.
The murallas had 166 watchtowers and nine gates,
with a sentry path along the middle. Today only three gates remain:
Puerta de Córdoba, Puerta Macarena and Postigo del Aceite,
while towers you can see include the Torre
de Oro (Golden Tower), by the river, the Torre
de Plata (Silver Tower) and the Torre Blanca (White Tower).
Puerta de Córdoba is a typical Moorish
horseshoe arch. St Hermenegildo was martyred there in 578 and his
church is behind the gate.
Puerta Macarena, in front of the church of La Macarena, dates
from the 2nd century AD. It was rebuilt after the Lisbon earthquake
in the 18th century. Postigo del Aceite was where oil and fat entered
the city. It was built in 1107 and reformed in 1573.
You'll notice other place names throughout the city
where gates once stood: Puerto Osario (named after a cemetery),
Puerta de la Carne (near a slaughterhouse), Puerta de
Jerez (where the road to Jerez started; look for the inscription
taken from the gate, in the corner of the plaza), Puerta de Carmona
(named after the road to Carmona, also where the water channels
from Carmona supplying the city arrived), Puerto Real (originally
called Goles; latterly named after when either Felipe II or St Fernando
entered the city), and Postigo de Carbon (c/Santander, related
to the weighing of coal at the gate).
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