Santiponce Itálica

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Almohad Minaret de Cuatrovitas

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The present-day Shrine to Nuestra Señora de Cuatrovitas or Cuatrohabitan, is built on the site of an Almohad mosque, of which only the minaret remains. It was adapted for Christian worship following the Reconquest.

The minaret is a square brick tower with a central column around which there is a staircase, replicating the design of the Seville’s Giralda on a smaller scale. 
The exterior is graced with several staggered openings crowned by a double horseshoe and multifoil arches in the traditional Almohad-style. 

The mosque is thought to have stood amid four Moorish settlements that disappeared after the Christian reconquest. The minaret and the mosque are all that remain. It is a smaller, vernacular version of Seville’s magnificent Almohad Mosque, which must have had a strong influence on sacred architecture in small and medium Andalusian towns. 

The Cuatrovitas Shrine and its tower were declared a Historic and Artistic Monument on 3 June 1931. It has now been upgraded to Site of Cultural Interest.

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