In this article we review the history of the famous Torre de la Calahorra, witness of the historical evolution of the city of Cordoba and that timelessness that the city that was the capital of Al-Andalus has always shown. It is true that the tower is located in an enviable place, at the foot of the Roman Bridge just on the other side of the historic center of Cordoba, even so it must be recognized that this monument is one of the great forgotten and of which, Unfortunately, they have less diffusion. This does not mean that this tower does not offer us anything interesting, at all, because as I said earlier, this tower, that of Calahorra, has been an active part of Córdoba's rich past.

 

 

The history and the origin of the Tower of the Calahorra are in that extraordinary point in which history and legend mix. There are many historians and researchers who have tried to find an adequate answer. One of the theories that is shuffled is that the name "Calahorra" has pre-Roman origin, whose etymology is still discussed, but it is the Andalusians who are going to refer to this tower as the qala, at al-hurriya. The most obvious is that this building was conceived with the idea of ​​protecting the famous Roman Bridge of Cordoba. Although this idea makes a lot of sense, it is true that the first allusions in the historical documentation about this tower date back to the 13th century, Fernando III being known by the pseudonym of the Saint, king of Castile. In that chronicle it was spoken about the difficulty of the entrance of the king in its conquest of the Cordovan city in the year 1236.

 

 

It is true that the current Calahorra Tower is the product of several renovations that we will discuss below. The first thing we can observe is its reinforcement of the twelfth century in the horseshoe arch that functioned as a door attached to the bridge and in the enclosure in the form of a rectangle that is flanked by towers. Next, it will be in the XIV century when this tower appears in the chronicles talking about its role in the confrontation between King Pedro I and Enrique de Trastámara who fought in its surroundings. It is the latter who adds a third tower to the two existing ones, the moat and the drawbridge. From the fifteenth century, due to the development of artillery and the change that this causes in military clashes, completely transformed its defensive enclosures, giving it the appearance it has today.

 

 

Perhaps, the most curious thing about this building is the variety of uses that it has been acquiring throughout its history. Evidently everything starts as defensive use, hence its military aspect. However, from the sixteenth century the building will go through different uses. During much of the eighteenth century it will be used as a prison for the Cordovan nobility and even foreign soldiers. At the end of the same century, during an epidemic that hit the city of Córdoba, it was used to put those affected in quarantine. In the middle of the 19th century, the Calahorra Tower was a school for girls from the neighborhood of Campo de la Verdad.

 

 

The Calahorra Tower in 1931 was declared a Historical Artistic Monument, although it is not until 1985 when the law of Spanish Historical Heritage will grant that property the highest category of protection.

 

 

Currently this building offers a permanent exhibition dedicated to the coexistence of the three cultures in the city of Córdoba (Christians, Jews and Muslims). This exhibition is managed by the Paradigma Córdoba Foundation. If you are interested in visiting this monument on its website you will find all the information about it (https://www.torrecalahorra.es/).

 

 

To discover this building and the legends that surround the city of Córdoba, do not hesitate to sign up for our free tours of the yellow umbrella, both the Historic Center (Puerta de Almodóvar at 11:00) and the Legends of the Jewish Quarter (A 19:00 from June to September in Puerta de Almodóvar). Our free tours need a previous reservation that can be done from https://cordobafreetour.es/ Come with our expert guides to discover all the secrets that this fantastic city offers us.