Torre del Oro

Before you, on the bank of the Guadalquivir, rises the Torre del Oro, the Tower of Gold, emblem of Seville's river. Look at its shape: three sections from different periods stacked on top of each other, as if the tower had grown along with the city.

1A tower to close the river

The twelve-sided base was built by the Almohads in 1220–1221 as an outlying tower linked to the walls that protected the city and the Alcázar. From here the port was defended. During the Castilian siege of 1248, Ramón de Bonifaz's fleet broke through the bridge of boats linking Seville with Triana, a decisive blow in Ferdinand III's conquest of the city.

2Three periods in one tower

The second section was probably added in the 14th century. The third, with its dome, dates from 1760, built after damage caused by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755. Since 1944 the tower has housed a naval museum run by the Spanish Navy.

3Why «of Gold»?

It has often been said that gold from the Americas was stored here, but there is no evidence for it. The 2005 restoration suggested another explanation: the original rendering, a mortar of lime and pressed straw, gave the walls a golden sheen in the sun.

The name was in use centuries before the first galleon laden with gold from the Indies ever reached Seville.

4What to look for

• The twelve sides of the lower, Almohad section.
• The dome of golden tiles, added in 1760.
• The colour of the stone in the afternoon sun, which explains the name better than any legend.