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Torre del Oro (Gold Tower) is a military watchtower built in Seville, Spain
during the Almohad dynasty in order to control access to the city via the
Guadalquivir river. The tower was built as part of the defensive works
running from the Alcázar to the river. The tower may have received
its name from the golden tiles which cover its dome and may have once adorned
the rest of the tower. Constructed in the first third of the 13th century,
it has twelve sides, and from its base a chain would be stretched, underwater,
across the river to another fort on the opposite shore, thereby preventing
enemy ships from traveling upstream to the port of Seville. The Castilian
naval force commanded by Ramón de Bonifaz broke this defense, helping
Ferdinand III of Castile capture Seville in 1248. The final and highest
addition to the tower was made by Sebastián Van der Borcht in 1760. |
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