Torre de Bujaco - Cáceres, Extremadura, España
Posted by: 
Ariberna
N 39° 28.512 W 006° 22.259
29S E 726135 N 4372811
Emblem of Cáceres and the most striking construction in the Plaza Mayor , the Bujaco tower is found protecting the northwest flank of the monumental city of Cáceres
Waymark Code: WM162YJ
Location: Extremadura, Spain
Date Posted: 04/23/2022
Views: 0
The current name of the tower is a modern denomination, perhaps from Caliph Abu Ya'qub (Abu Jacob), the tower's builder. It is believed that the name comes from there, although other authors consider it more likely to relate it to the word buhaco , a straw and rag doll from the area, which was used to refer to the statue of the Androgynous Genius , placed on top of the tower between 1820 and 1962.
Description
It is a genuinely Arab building with a square floor plan erected on reused Roman ashlars . It is essentially built of masonry, being reinforced with masonry in the corners. Like many other military buildings from the Almohad period, it is an albarrana tower connected to the wall by a powerful masonry arch. It appears topped by a ring of battlements , two side machicolations and a front one, added much later. On the western face, facing the Plaza Mayor , is the small balcony of the Fueros , whose origins date back to the 16th century .and is decorated with scroll corbels and a coat of arms. The tower measures about 10 m on a side by 25 high.
History
Its construction dates back to the rebuilding of the city by the Almohads in the 12th century. When the Christian troops were able to take Cáceres for the first time in 1169, they would use this construction to their advantage, but in a short time it would be reconquered by the Muslims in the spring of 1173. The Bujaco tower would be the last redoubt defended by the Christian knights after six months of Almohad siege. Faced with such resistance, the Almohad caliph ordered forty Fratres from Cáceres to be put to the knife , defending the tower from the siege. This caliph remodeled the tower after reconquering the city.
Lower balcony added in the 16th century.
The tower has undergone renovations over time. Between 1672 and 1791 it housed the town hall clock, and for this reason it was also known as the Clock Tower. At the end of the century, this clock would be transferred to the tower of San Mateo, later installing another in Bujaco until the middle of the 20th century. In 1820 a small pavilion would be built on the beacon of the tower housing the Androgynous Genius of the city. Only in 1963 would the topping of the pavilion begin and its transfer to its current location in the Balbos forum (the original statue resides in the Veletas museum). In its place a new machicolation was added, similar to the machicolations located on the sides, and likewise, the whitewashing of the tower was removed and thus exposed its masonry work. This last remodeling gave it a more medieval air, typical of the reforms that were undertaken in Cáceres at that time.
In the 21st century, the tower has been recovered for public use and is open to tourism. It currently houses an interpretation center, a must for tourists, and it is possible to contemplate a good part of the monumental city from the top of the beacon .
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