The most impressive part of the outer wall is around the main entrance. In this section you can see the arrow slits in the wall. The entrance protrudes some 8m from the wall and looks rather rude to be honest (see fig. 10). The doorway to this aligns with the largest of the outlying forts that protect the site. The gatehouse walls are very well-preserved to a height of 1.5m. There are several towers to either side of it (see fig. 11). This would have been a very danderous place to attack and the size of the complex reflects a very affluent and organised society.
The forts that were built around the main complex vary in size, and complexity. The most impressive of these is the one that overlooks the main gateway to the citadel. The design of this is worthy of any later design - a central round tower with orbital towers around its circumference. This tower was seriously defensive and even had its own well inside.
We only managed to see one of the smaller forts (see fig. 12), because the weather was simply too hot for us to go walking in the hills after spending several hours looking around the main site.
The centre is located 12 miles north of Almeria on the south coast. It s only open between 10am and 2pm, so plan your arrival - we didn't and had to stay overnight so that we could come back the following day.
