Dos Torres

Dos Torres grew out of two separate villages: Torremilano and Torrefranca. Torremilano began as a lone watchtower whose surroundings gradually filled with people toward the end of the Middle Ages, sitting on a contested border between the jurisdiction of Córdoba and the lordship of Santa Eufemia. That disputed boundary was itself the reason Torrefranca came into being — the lord of Santa Eufemia claimed the portion of Torremilano that fell within his territory and effectively carved out a new settlement from it.

For much of the following centuries the lords of Santa Eufemia repeatedly tried to absorb Torremilano outright, seeking to expand their territory and income. Torremilano resisted, remaining a royal town for most of its history — though between 1660 and 1747 it fell, along with the Siete Villas de los Pedroches, under the Marquesate of El Carpio.

The two villages eventually merged into a single physical settlement while stubbornly maintaining separate legal and administrative identities. That arrangement held until 11 December 1839, when a royal decree formally united them as the single municipality of Dos Torres.

The town's most important building is the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, a three-nave Mudéjar structure dating from the second half of the medieval period. Beside its apse stands a brick bell tower added in the Baroque era, and inside, a large gilded wooden Baroque altarpiece dominates the main chapel. In the Torrefranca district, the old parish church of Santiago survives as the town's cultural centre.

Several hermitages from around the same period ring the town. The most significant is the Hermitage of Nuestra Señora de Loreto, originally dedicated to Saint Anne — a dedication still reflected in the name of the nearby bridge, the surrounding area, and the monumental Fuente del Pilar. Other hermitages honour San Bartolomé, San Roque, and Cristo de la Caridad. The oldest, San Sebastián, sits on a high point with a viewing platform over the town and, nearby, a snow well once used to preserve food and medicines — a structure of probable pre-Christian origin that was little known locally until a recent restoration.

The Torremilano district retains a notable collection of late-medieval and early-modern manor houses, their granite doorways carved with coats of arms. The finest example stands at number 7 on Plaza Padres Redentoristas. The main Plaza Mayor is arcaded, with the old town hall and the Pósito granary — now operating as a hotel and restaurant — among its original buildings.