In Roman times, Carmona had four gates that allowed communication between the walled city and the outside world. Only two of them remain: the Seville Gate and the Cordoba Gate, due to the numerous and decisive battles that took place in our land throughout history.
In Roman urban planning, these two main gates were connected by the "cardo maximus," forming the city's principal thoroughfare. This layout, which allows access to the city through both gates and their interconnection, remains almost unchanged today. Archaeological investigations have revealed that the 1st century AD was a period of economic prosperity for Carmona, leading to the construction of large and important public buildings, including the Puerta de Córdoba (Córdoba Gate), which served not only as a defensive gateway but also as a symbol of propaganda. At the Puerta de Córdoba, we can see traces of the different cultures that have settled in our city throughout history.
During the time of the Catholic Monarchs, the Gate lost its original defensive function and, with it, its austere military appearance, taking on a function of monitoring products made outside the walls, acting in practice as a customs house and thus acquiring a civil architecture.
In the 16th century, Renaissance reforms were carried out, and at the beginning of the 17th century, it was decided to add beautiful ornamental motifs, such as coats of arms and marble statues, now lost, which enhanced the Gate's grandeur. Its Baroque appearance was given during the reign of Charles II, with the reforms of 1688. At the end of the 18th century, the last intervention was carried out by the renowned Neoclassical architect, José Chamorro, a native of Carmona, who rebuilt part of the monument and consolidated the whole.
The structure consists primarily of a straight wall of rusticated ashlar masonry, approximately ten meters high, flanked by two octagonal defensive towers topped with Roman-style crenellations. The central opening is covered by a semicircular vault, the exterior façade of which is framed by two pairs of Tuscan columns on balusters.
On either side are trompe-l'œil windows framed by pilasters and topped with triangular pediments. Beside the aforementioned octagonal towers stand solitary Tuscan columns, which, along with the towers, support the upper section. Two coats of arms are displayed: the royal coat of arms and that of the city. The inner face of the doorway is much simpler, in the Ionic style with dentils. The city's coat of arms appears on its upper section. An interesting 18th-century painting, depicting the Virgin of Grace, patron saint of the city, is preserved on the intrados of the main opening.
Recent archaeological investigations, carried out prior to restoration, have revealed that it has two small doors, on each side of the main one, which were blocked up in the 2nd century, due to political instability, and are currently located inside the attached houses, making it the only Roman gate with three arches, of a defensive nature, that exists on the Iberian Peninsula.