Macarena Gate

The Puerta de la Macarena (in Arabic: Bab-al-Makrin), also known as Arco de la Macarena, is one of the only three city gates that remain today of the original walls of Seville, alongside the Postigo del Aceite and the Puerta de Córdoba. It is located in the calle Resolana, within the barrio de San Gil, which belongs to the district of Casco Antiguo of the city of Seville, in Andalusia, Spain. The gate faces the Basílica de La Macarena, which houses the image of the Our Lady of la Esperanza Macarena, one of the most characteristic images of the Holy Week in Seville.

This is the northernmost entrance to the city's walls and the largest of the set. It is one of the few remaining remnants of the original city walls, along with the section of wall that connects it to the Cordoba Gate (Puerta de Córdoba), in which seven towers are preserved.

Although the city's walled enclosure was originally built during the time of Julius Caesar (replacing earlier Carthaginian defenses), the gate itself dates to the 12th-century expansion ordered by the sultan Ali ibn Yusuf. Its current appearance results from extensive remodeling between 1723 and 1795, during which the original Islamic architectural elements were replaced with a classicist style.

This gate was traditionally used by kings entering the city for the first time. Before its walls stood an altar where visiting kings would perform a symbolic act of homage, after which they were presented with the keys to the city. This ceremony was performed by: Alfonso XI of Castile (1327), Isabella I of Castile (1477), Ferdinand II of Aragon (1508), Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and his fiancée Isabella of Portugal (1526), and finally Philip IV (1624).

The Macarena Gate (Puerta de la Macarena) crowns the ceramic altarpiece created by painter Manuel Rodríguez, which depicts the Virgin of Hope of Macarena and was inaugurated in 1923 by Infanta Maria de la Esperanza of Bourbon–Two Sicilies.

The remains of the walled city, which includes this gate, were declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1985.

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