Torre de los Perdigones (Perdigones Tower)

This tower used to be part of the old “San Francisco de Paula” factory, known locally as “Fábrica de Perdigones”. On Calle Resolana, in the neighborhood of San Gil de Sevilla, next to the Barqueta bridge, the main access to the 1992 Expo. As its name indicates, the factory was one of the many foundries in the city and fully dedicated to making shot (the task performed in the tower), bullets and zinc plate, later manufacturing zinc bathtubs (famous at the time). It was owned by Manuel Mata and was built in 1885. The shot pellets were manufactured in the following manner: once the main material was raised, the lead was melted in a furnace. The melted lead is thrown through different calibre screens and the windows letting in the air current to do the rest.  With gravity, the pellets fall like rain. Around the time of the 1992 Expo, it was restored thanks to some famous warehouses that subsidised the work and in August 2005, it was again restored by the City Council. It was inaugurated as the “Camara oscura” on March 28, 2007, as a new tourist attraction letting tourists see the city from a height of 45 meters, almost half the height of the Giralda.