Tower of Abd el Aziz

959

The Tower of Abd el Aziz goes unnoticed by the passer-by on Avenida de la Constitución as it has been absorbed into the urban planning of the centre of Seville. It is a piece of the historic Almohad wall of Seville that stands in the heart of the town.

The tower was part of the wall that led from the Real Alcázar to the Tower of Gold, at the foot of the River Guadalquivir. As it approached the river, the number of sides increased. The Tower of Abd el Aziz has a hexagonal floor plan, the Tower of Silver has an octagonal one and the Tower of Gold has a dodecagonal one.

It is estimated that the tower was built in the 12th century in the context of a defensive extension of the Alcázar. With greater or lesser luck, it has remained standing at the confluence with Santo Tomás street, integrated into a building by Aníbal González from 1919. Regionalism looked back to the glory days of Seville's history and, in this case, it lives on.

But where does his name come from? Abd al-Aziz ibn Musa was an emir who resided in Ishbiliya from 714 to 719, the son of the famous Muse who arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in 712 and began the conquest of the southern territories. Abd el Aziz was appointed governor or wali of al-Andalus when his father was required in Damascus.

Although it does not have very relevant dimensions and did not have appropriate protection, the Tower of Abd el Aziz stands out among Sevillian legends: it is said to have been the first place where the Castilian banner of Fernando III fluttered after the conquest of the town in 1248.

Labels

Arabic

Towers

Almohade