Almadén de la Plata Clock Tower

Almadén de la Plata Clock Tower

The Clock Tower of Almadén de la Plata is located in Plaza del Reloj 12 (Clock Square), a few meters from the Town Hall and the Nuestra Señora de Gracia Church.

In the Paseo del Reloj stands out the Old Town Hall. A building with a single nave floor plan that was originally built in the 15th century to be a hospital known as “Hospital de los Ángeles”, and which became a Hermitage in the 17th century. In 1905, the neo-Mudejar style tower with a total height of 27 meters was added, crowned by a highly accurate clock on two of its sides and a bell, hence its name Clock Tower, a unique symbol of Almadén de la Plata. It currently houses municipal offices, including the Plenary Hall and Social Affairs.

Neo-Mudejar is an artistic and architectural style that developed mainly in the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. It should be noted that the neo-Mudejar style was born and is used only in Spain. This new style will be the Spanish version of the historicist current that prevailed throughout Europe at the time. It was a romantic and conservative architecture that sought to imitate the styles of past ages.

The immutable characteristics of Neo-Mudejar art would be: the use of brick as the main construction element and the decorative use of Islamic motifs such as bows, rhombuses, horseshoe arches, tiles, etc.

In the province of Seville, neo-Mudejar architecture was widely accepted, and there are several renowned architects who designed according to this aesthetic trend, including Aníbal González and José Espiau. Therefore, there are many Neo-Mudejar style buildings both in the Sevillian capital and in the province of Seville; the Plaza de España, the Córdoba station (Plaza de Armas) and other buildings in Dos Hermanas and Écija are among the most representative.

The building has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest by the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía on November 26, 2007.