Torre de Belén
| CIVIL BUILDING |
| 12TH CENTURY |
| MEDIEVAL ERA |
| LOCATION: CALLE MARTÍN DE ROA |
The Tower of Belén is a square tower 7.4 metres wide built of limestone blocks in a design known as ‘soga y tizón’ (alternating one lengthways stone block with two side-on). The elbow-shaped design of the entrance features two gateways positioned at right angles. The outer (north-facing) doorway has the form of a pointed horseshoe arch. The interior (east-facing) door is the only one currently leading to the ground floor and was converted into a hermitage (which gave rise to its alternative names, Tower of the Statues or Tower of San Benito).
The tower has two floors with a semi-circular brick vaulted ceiling. The second floor gives access to the walkways along the city wall (semi-circular arches lead north and south), and to the three openings crowned by semi-circular arches in the eastern wall, where the bells of the hermitage were once kept. There are two theories about the tower’s history: it was built either in the Almohad period (12th century) or later in Christian times.
