Seville was a Roman "colonia" since 45BC. The important city got looted by the Vandals in 428 and developed into a Bishopric seat under Visigothic rule. After the Moors had defeated the Visigoths in the Battle of Guadalete, the conquered Seville and made it the capital of a province. Normans devastated Seville in 844 but Seville got rebuilt and flourished under the different Moorish dynasties.
In 1248 Seville was conquered by the troops of Ferdinand III of Castile. The emigration of hundredthousands of Moors to Northern Africa led to a decrease of economics in the whole area. Seville recovered in the 16th and 17th century, when it became the hub of Spanish maritime trade. During this period, the port of Seville had a monopoly on overseas trade. Vespucci and Magellan planned and started their voyages here.
The twelve-sided “Torre del Oro” was built around 1220 on behalf of the Almohads.

From the base of the tower, a heavy iron chain was led under water to the other side of the River Guadalquivir to the Torre de la Fortaleza, which has not survived. In this way, the port of Seville could be protected against warships sailing upstream.

In the Middle Ages, the tower served as a prison, and from the 16th century onwards as a storage facility for precious metals, which were shipped in at regular intervals by the Spanish silver fleet from the overseas colonies.