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of our past and a part of our present.
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of our past and a part of our present.
Dénia
Torre de l'Almadrava
The Tower of Almadrava (known locally as Torre de L’Almadrava) is located northwest of the town of Dénia, in La Marina Alta, next to the mouth of the River Girona, near the beach called Platja de L'Almadrava and about 100 metres away from the shore. It is the northernmost tower in the province of Alicante, very close to the border with the province of Valencia.
The strong urbanisation of the area has left the tower standing in the green zone of a residential area, completely outside of its original context, which was the visual connection with the sea.
Although Iberian vestiges have been found in the area, Dénia is of Roman origin: Dianium, located north of the present city and in front of the old port. According to the historian and geographer Strabo, Dénia was an important naval base for General Sertorio's troops on the Peninsula (1st century BC). During the High Empire (Early Roman Empire), it enjoyed a period of splendour.
The Tower of Almadrava is a defensive tower built in the middle of the 14th century. Formerly, there was an installation for the fish industry, known as “almadrava”. Some vaults of that construction are still preserved. It is a watchtower with a frustoconical body, 6 metres in diameter and 12 metres high, with a very steep lower part. According to ancient plans, the tower had three floors and was crowned with a flat terrace. Communication between floors was carried out through a narrow empty space, remains of which can be found in the vault of the ground floor.
As time went by, it gradually collapsed, leaving only the body of the base standing and the empty space access so damaged that it is unrecognisable in shape and dimension. Due to long-standing structural problems, the base had to be reinforced with four buttresses resembling a square shoe. This tower has the peculiarity of not being located on an elevation, but on the beach plain.
It was built with irregular masonry and was plastered with lime mortar. Until a few years ago it remained in ruins and only preserved a part of its structure, but when it was swallowed up by urban growth, it was restored, with debatable success since two floors, which formed no part of the original construction, were added by means of plastering.
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