The Alcázar de la Puerta de Sevilla and Its Torre del Oro

The Alcázar de la Puerta de Sevilla is the western entrance to Carmona and the monument that best sums up the city: a fortress built on a tower from the 8th century BC, turned into a bastion by the Carthaginians, a monumental gate by the Romans and an alcázar by the Muslims and by Pedro I. Inside is the Municipal Tourist Reception Centre, so this is where you buy your ticket, pick up a map and begin your visit to Carmona.

Three thousand years in the stonework

Turismo de Carmona places the origin of the site in the 9th century BC, with even older remains. On the original tower, the Carthaginians built a square, solid bastion to resist Rome. In the time of Augustus the Romans reinforced it with the gate system still visible today: two facing gates with semicircular arches and barrel vaults, separated by a courtyard enclosed by walls, the intervallum, where anyone who broke through the first gate was trapped. A temple was built on top, part of whose podium remains. Caesar even called Carmona the strongest city in the Baetica.

In the Islamic period a Caliphate horseshoe arch, from the 10th century, and a pointed Almohad one, from the 12th, were added, and in the 14th century Pedro I remodelled the interior. In the 1960s the houses that had been attached to it were demolished, and in 1973 the rooms you walk through today were restored. The monument was declared a historic-artistic site before the Giralda of Seville.

Prisoners, cisterns and the Torre del Oro

The visit passes through the Lower Prisoners' Hall and the Upper Prisoners' Hall, with an exhibition on the monument, through the Cisterns' courtyard and goes up the Torre del Oro. From the top you can see all of Carmona's white houses, the towers of its churches and, on the other side, the Corbones plain. Allow about 45 minutes without rushing.

Opening hours and admission

On the autumn timetable it is open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00 and Sunday from 10:00 to 15:00, with last entry half an hour before closing. Admission costs €2; €1 for children, students, pensioners and groups of more than 25 people, and on Mondays it is free. Telephone: 954 19 09 55.

The office also organises a guided tour of the old town that takes in the Alcázar, the City Museum and a church, with admission to each paid separately; there are no tours in July and August.

Where to go next

From the Puerta de Sevilla the street climbs to the centre: the Priory Church of Santa María and the City Museum are a few minutes away, and the Roman Necropolis lies below, on the outskirts, on the road out towards Seville. This site's Sunday in Carmona plan brings together the necropolis, the Torre del Oro and lunch at the Molino de la Romera; if it is a Sunday, remember that the Alcázar closes at 15:00.