Los Alumbres Tower

Los Alumbres Tower, locally known as Torre de los Alumbres, lies in a field, east of the village of Rodalquilar in the province of Almería in Spain.

Los Alumbres Tower was built in 1510. It had to guard the Rodalquilar valley against attacks by Barbary pirates who regularly landed here to find water, minerals and slaves. Its name comes from the alum mineral that was widely mined in this area.

In 1520 it could not withstand an attack by pirates who destroyed the local settlement and took away the local population as slaves. This decrease in manpower impeded the mining activity in the next decades. In 1590 the alum mines were abandoned. From then on Los Alumbres Tower was used as a barracks for troops during the 17th and 18th century.

In 1764 the nearby newly built San Ramón Castle took over its defensive role. From then on the tower fell to ruin.

Los Alumbres Tower was built in Renaissance style. It consists of a square tower, 14 meters high, with 6 vaulted rooms on 3 levels that were connected by a spiral staircase. It is surrounded by an outer wall with round corner towers. It probably used to be equipped with a dry moat and a drawbridge.

At present Los Alumbres Tower is fenced off and can not be visited. A really nice tower. San Ramón Castle is nearby.

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