Segur Gate

This door belonging to the defensive set of the bastion of the Segur must have been built or deeply restored between 1475-1480 by the second Duke of Medina Sidonia D. Enrique de Guzmán. It was known until the 17th century as the Puerta de la Villa, since during the medieval and early modern centuries it must have been the main gate of the walled enclosure. The gate is more than three meters thick and is reinforced by the cylindrical tower of the slide on the north side and by a small square tower on the south side. From inside the Joplin Bar, one can still see the stairway (now truncated) that led to the parapet and the chamber of the cylindrical tower of the Corredera, which must have been at the same level. From this level of the parapet, the walkway connected, through a stairway whose stone steps of Gothic design are visible on the west side, with the small square tower that frames and defends the Puerta de la Segur. On the east side the door, with a semicircular arch in its origin, had an alfiz carved in the stone with a symmetrical composition of symbols and coats of arms. On the left side, between the alfiz and the arch, there is the coat of arms of the Mendoza family and above it a segur (from which the name of the door derives). On the right side (today disappeared or buried by the adjoining house) there was the coat of arms of the Guzmanes family and another segur facing each other. The coats of arms correspond to those of Duke Enrique de Guzmán and his wife Leonor de Mendoza. The double segur adopted as its own symbol by Duke Enrique de Guzmán, apart from other considerations, can be related to the lordly power and the faculties granted by the Crown to the House of Medina Sidonia. It is a semicircular arch framed by a molding, of which only a part is preserved. Its name is due to the marble relief that can be appreciated in the internal part that resembles an "Axe or Segur", which means the judicial power of Rome. Under this axe, there is a coat of arms belonging to the Mendoza family. In the upper part of the Arch there is a plaque dedicated to Juan Relinque.