City Gate


A must-see, the access to the village was the Gateway to the City of Mojácar. Today it has become a tourist attraction, a reminder of the historic past which surrounded the town, but which for centuries served as the main entrance to the locality as a border and the place for paying taxes and duties.

 A recommended visit in Mojácar is the City Gate.  It was built in the 16th century over the original Arab gate. It was opened in the city walls and put up by the Mojacans from the gradual transfer of the population from the 11th century from the old settlement in Old Mojácar. It served as a communication route between the Public Fountain hill and the Caño Plaza, and was an obligatory stop for the carts which arrived to trade. In front the House of the Torreón was the point for paying duties and a security checkpoint for preventing the entry of looters and criminals.

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On its archway at the middle point one can see the city shield with the double-headed eagle of the house of Austria. One can see a tower, a key and a scimitar. The legend shows the words “To the very noble and loyal city of Mojácar, key and shelter of the Kingdom of Granada”, an entrance way to a locality of undoubted Muslim influence.

Mojácar, as a frontier area and due to the strategic enclave which allows for the sighting of boats from the north of Africa, experienced a complex and warlike 15th century. But the grand splendour of the locality also experienced difficult times, with the loss of a good part of the walls and the castle fortification, possibly as a result of a large earthquake. Today, as well as the portico, only the tower and the paved floor of the Castle Viewing point remain as memories of that epoch. Eventually, this would allow for the expansion of and increase in the locality’s population, especially from the 18th century onwards, when the census of the times registered 10,000 people, more than now.

For this reason, the City Gate is a long way from the outskirts. Today it is the end of Puntica Street and the entrance to the Flores Plaza.

The surrounding area is where in the past the market was held. A focal point of the maze of narrow whitewashed streets, of delightful architecture, adorned with geraniums and bougainvillea, which makes it such a beautiful and picturesque corner. Its last renovation was in the 18th century.

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