Puerta de Sevilla Alcazar
Fortress of the Gate of Seville-The day that we went to LaRambla to go pottery shopping, we passed what looked like a fort or castle along the road. We decided that on our way home from pottery shopping that we would stop and investigate this castle. We didn’t have a map, didn’t know where we were going or even what it was we were looking for, but we managed to find the exit that took us to this “place”.
We actually entered the older section of town thru the Puerta de Cordoba (Gate to Cordoba) -if you look at the map below, we entered from the lower right corner and after wandering thru the streets of this beautiful old town (taking many, many pictures) we finally ended up at (number 5 on the map) the Fortress . We quickly paid our 1 Euro each to enter the Fortress (it was going to close in 30 minutes) and had a look around. It wasn’t until we finished our quick tour that we picked up the information pamphlet about the Fortress. It was simply amazing to know that we had been in a place that was built in the 8th century BC!
We only spent 1 1/2 hrs in this ancient town where we could have easily spent the entire day. There was just so much to see. We will be making a trip back to see the Roman Necropolis, elephants tomb, Roman amphitheater, just to name a few places (we will add those pictures after we make that trip). You can find out more information on the various monuments in Carmona by clicking here (click on the British flag on the left hand side-that will put the site in English vice Spanish- then click on Monuments) This will show more than what we saw in the brief time that we were there and also give a detailed description and history about each place.
On this particular evening they were getting ready for their Carnival- “Mardis Gras” parade- that is why the children were dressed in costumes. We didn’t stay for the parade as it was getting dark and it was our first time driving without a guide.
This is by far the best place that we have visited since our arrival in Spain!
History: (taken from the brochure of the Fortress of the Gate of Seville)
At the Puerta de Sevilla Alcazar, as at other sites elswhere in the town, remains have been found dating from the 14th to the 12th centuries BC. The first fortification on this site was a tower with a circular ground plan some ten meters in diameter, which formed part of a larger defensive complex (ramparts & towers) dating back to the 8th century BC. The Carthaginians built a bulwark on the site of the original tower, casting the mould of its powerful, sturdy, quadrangular appearance, designed then to withstand the assult of the enemies. It was, in the Roman times, between the 3rd century and the early 1st century BC that it began to acquire a semblance of the way it looks today. The Romans reinforced the structure erectly by the Carthaginians with a series of gates, which can still be seen today, adding the northern gate and building a temple on the site of the bastion. These constructions, along with others elsewhere in the town, made Carmona the strongest and safest locality in Andalusia during antiquity.