Mesa Roldán Tower

Mesa Roldán Tower, locally known as Torre de la Mesa Roldán, lies on a mountain, east of the village of Agua Amarga in the province of Almería in Spain.

Mesa Roldán Tower was built between 1764 and 1766, during the reign of Charles III of Spain. It is an artillery tower of the horseshoe-type for coastal defense, just like the Macenas and Cristal towers, also in Almería.

It was made to be armed with two 24-pounder cannons. However, Mesa Roldán Tower quickly turned out to be useless because of its elevation and distance to the sea. Originally entrance to the tower was gained through a doorway on first floor level, accessed by a rope ladder. On the lowest level were rooms for gunpowder and storage. On the first floor level were a kitchen and living quarters. The cannons would be situated on the roof.

In 1768 it was damaged when it was hit by lightning during a severe storm. In the second half of the 19th century the tower was transferred to the Carabineros Corps and it was used as a makeshift lighthouse before the nearby lighthouse was built in 1863.

In 1941 Mesa Roldán Tower was ceded to the Guardia Civil. They used it for telecommunications and an antenna was installed on the tower. In 2002 it was decommissioned and the antenna was removed. It now stands abandoned.

Next to it is a disused quarry which was used from 1978 until the 1990s. Because stones were quarried with the use of dynamite, the tower was damaged.

In 2015 Mesa Roldán Tower was a filming location for a season 6 episode of Game of Thrones.

At present the exterior of Mesa Roldán Tower can freely be visited. Its interior is inaccessible. A nice fort tower.

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