SIGHTSEEING

Alcazaba

The Alcazaba, with its 1430 m. walled perimeter is Spain’s second largest Muslim construction, after the Alhambra Palace in Granada. It was built at the behest of Abderrahman III in the tenth century after the founding of the city. It is a stronghold which housed three campuses; the first two Muslims and one Christian, last built after the conquest of the city by the Catholic Monarchs, which occurred in 1489.

El cable inglés

The Cable Inglés, or English Pier, in Almeria is an ancient loading pier that was used in the 20th century to transport iron from the train station to the cargo ships docked in the port of Almeria. The pier remained operational until it was closed down in 1973. It is an important symbol of Spain’s industrial heritage and the mining and rail boom that marked the century in Europe. Construction of the Cable Inglés began in 1902. It required 3.8 tonnes of steel, 8,000 m2 of wood and concrete and more than 1 km of rail. The structure rises 17 m high and runs 100 m, while the railway track runs 900 m to the train station. It was such an important engineering feat that it was inaugurated by the King of Spain himself, Alfonso XIII on 20 April 1904. Many railway bridges of the 20th century were heavily influenced by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel. The design of the Cable Inglés used Eiffel’s technique of iron pillars with sleepers to provide the necessary support to the structure.

Cathedral

The Square designed in the mid-nineteenth century, it has undergone several renovations, most recently in 2000. It highlights the monumental facade of the cathedral fortress which presides from the sixteenth century, with its Renaissance main entrance.

The commencment of the building of the Cathedral was in 1524, after the earthquake in 1522 destroyed the first, which was located in the Medina, on the site of the old mosque. Its main feature was to be cathedral-fortress, because it was built for both religious worship and to shelter the population from attacks by Barbary pirates. This is seen in its main facade: use of large buttresses and towers at the corners, solid walls and concentrated decoration on its main entrance, where campean the shield of Carlos I of Spain and V of Germany, and the Bishop founder of the cathedral, Fray Diego Fernandez de Villalán. The side of the street Velázquez, and so-called “pardons” the door is the same as the main one, although simpler Renaissance style decor.