Puerta de Purchena square

Puerta de Purchena preserves the name of an entrance that no longer exists. The Pechina gate once stood here, connecting the walled city with its surroundings. Demolition of the walls in 1855 made room for a different Almería, with new streets, businesses and prestigious housing. The square became a meeting point between the old town, the Paseo and expanding neighbourhoods. The province’s mining wealth helped encourage bourgeois architecture designed to display status. The House of Butterflies, designed by Trinidad Cuartara in 1909, is one reference point for that transformation. Look at the upper features of the façades and compare them with the idea of a defensive gateway: displaying prosperity eventually replaced controlling passage at this same location.