Torre del Oro

For me, the Torre del Oro (Golden Tower) is one of the most beautiful monuments in the city, both by itself and in its strategic location, always safeguarding the river Guadalquivir...

It has always been "undervalued" when compared with La Giralda, but townspeople have wanted and respected it in through its most difficult times, so much so that after the conquest of the city by Ferdinand III in 1248, the abandonment ensued with the Tower. Thus, it arrived in the sixteenth century in a ruinous state, which meant it needed to undergo important works of consolidation.

Thanks to this consolidation work it reached the eighteenth century, in which the terrible Lisbon earthquake of 1755 shook the city and severely affected the tower. These were critical moments in its continued existence, because although in 1760 they mended the damages and added the upper section, just before the chief officer of Justice Marqués de Monte Real proposed its demolition, to widen the promenade for horse carriages and leave the passage of San Telmo to the Triana Bridge straighter.

One of the most recent offerings of Almohad art in Seville was the very famous Torre del Oro (Golden Tower)

Built in 1220/21 by order of the last Almohad governor of Seville Ibn Uhla, in order to close the passage to Arenal with a wall that connected it to the torre de la Plata (Silver Tower), between which passed the Guadalquivir. The river port was closed with a thick chain to the Tower fortress (now destroyed) in the current neighbourhood of Triana, and concretized the last stronghold which would form part of the walls of the Alcázar, which aimed to defend the city.

When it was recovered by Fernando III, the tower was used for a while, as a chapel dedicated to St. Isidore. In 1760, Sebastian Vander Borcht was responsible for adding a circular body.

Emblematic monument of Seville located on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, on the shore closest to the old part of the city.

As important as the visit to the museum, located inside the tower, is the visit to the Teatro de la Maestranza, facing the tower. Thus, the Maestranza bullring is next to the theatre too.