Province
& Villages - Cadiz - Carmona - History
Carmona information
History
Carmona was, at one stage of its history, the capital
of a Moorish Taifa kingdom, and the prolonged presence
of the Moors on its soil can today be appreciated
not only in the charming Patio de los Naranjos or
Orange Tree Patio adjoining the Church of Santa María
and in the horseshoe arches of the Almohad Puerta
de Sevilla Alcazar, but also in the town's street
plan and whitewashed buildings.
The Middle Ages made a significant contribution to
present-day Carmona. It was much loved by King Peter
I, who gave the town a renovated Mudéjar Alcazar,
which stands in the upper part of the town, now refurbished
as a Parador de Turismo, a state-run hotel. The Mudéjar
perido also bequeathed some of Carmona's most beautiful,
evocative churches, such as the Church of San Felipe,
and a number of houses and palaces. The town flourished
in the Gothic period, the finest example of which
is Carmon's main church, Santa María, which
is of cathedral - like proportions featuring high
- ceiling naves and the inevitable presence of other
styles: the altar, for example, is an impressive contribution
from the Plateresque period. The entire spectrum of
styles and schools is represented in this town dotted
with splendid palaces and convents. One of these,
the Convent of Santa Catalina, is now a striking market
square, an enormous porticoed patio, where the redness
of the stone and the whiteness of whitewashed walls
dominate, as they do throughout Carmona. Another is
the Convent of Santa Clara, whose tuns, remaining
fatihful to tradition, preserve the well-kept secret
of medieval confectionary under niveous arches. San
Bartolomé also dates from the Gothic period.
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