Torre del Oro
Torre del Oro or Gold Tower in English is a military watchtower in Seville. It was built by the Muslim ruler of Almohads to control the waterways of the river. The name of Torre del Oro comes from the gleam of lime mortar and straw that the building displayed. It is one of two towers which were used to hold a large chain that would have been able to block the river access. The tower not only blocked the river access but also formed part of the last wall of defence that ran from the Alcazar Palace to the river.
The tower is divided into three levels, with the third and uppermost being circular in shape and added in 1769 and the lower two parts are from the 13th century. The Tower of Gold was built 1220-1221, by order of the Almohad governor of Seville, Abu l-Ula, with a twelve-sided base.
During the invasion and colonization of the Americas, this tower was used to store gold and silver plundered from the natives.
Nowadays this tower holds a naval museum which displays a variety of old navigational instruments and models, as well as historical documents. It was created in March 1936 by the Ministry of the Navy, was inaugurated in 1944 with funding from the Naval Museum of Madrid. The museum occupies two floors of the body under the tower, the two rooms of the museum is shaped like a ring that rotates in tornouna central staircase that connects them.
Inside the museum one can find the set of models of boats that are exposed in the windows. Of the most important detacamos the model of the ship “Cape Horn”, the Giralda, the beautiful yacht of King Alfonso XIII, the model and drawings of the San Fernando Real, the first steamboat built by shipyards in Seville in 1917. Of the most interesting, we highlight the models of the three ships that set sail in search of the Indies captained by Christopher Columbus, on Friday August 3, 1492. Important to note the large mural traces the route taken by Elcano in its journey around the world.
In the second room, one can see the documentary section of photographs, documents of Alfonso XIII, guns out from the bay of Cadiz, one of them from the wreckage of Trafalgar.
