Habsburg and Bourbon Spain

Almadén

Today: Spain

Years: 1492–1833
Role: Mercury-mining town

Its mercury mines passed to the Crown in 1512 with the mastership lands of the military orders and were permanently incorporated into the Crown of Castile in 1523; private contractors, among them the Fuggers, worked them until 1645, and the State has done so since. In 1777 Carlos III founded the Mining Academy there, the first in Spain. The Royal Miners' Hospital and the hexagonal bullring are 18th-century works for the mining community.

What to see today

Plaza de toros de Almadén (Plaza Nueva): Bullring, 1752 to 1765
Real Hospital de Mineros de San Rafael: Hospital, 1765 to 1773

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