the principal fortress of Peter the Cruel (from 1350 to 1369), and contained a spacious palace within its defences. Towards the end of the 15th century Carmona had an estimated population of about 8,000. By the dawn of the Early Modern period, Carmona's economy was by and large agriculture-based, with the town featuring many latifundia, often entitled to non-local landowners, and a substantial fraction of non-active population. The 19th century desamortizaciones led to the creation of a new landowning class that came to be historiographically designated as "agrarian bourgeoisie". The population boomed in the mid 20th century. Main sights Palace of King Don Pedro, built in the 13th century by Peter I of Castile. It was damaged by an earthquake in 1504. Moorish alcázar Palace of Rueda Palace of the Marquess of Torres Seville Gate Palace Baroque palaces of Alonso Bernal Escamilla, Aguilar, Domínguez, and Lasso Córdoba Gate, the gate on the road to Córdoba, partly of Roman construction Seville Gate, of Carthaginian origins, has the remains of later Roman additions, and was modified in the Middle Ages by the Moors and the Christians. Marchena Gate, built during the Almohad domination of Spain Roman Bridge Remains of the Via Augusta Tree-lined avenue of Alfonso XIII Roman Necropolis, discovered in 1881. It is located close to the town, beside the Seville road, and contains more than nine hundred family tombs dating from the second century BC to the fourth century AD. Enclosed in subterranean chambers hewn from the rock, the tombs are often frescoed and contain a series of niches in which many of the funeral urns remain intact. Some of the larger tombs have vestibules with stone benches for funeral banquets and several retain carved family emblems. The Tomb of the Elephant and the Tomb of Servilia in the necropolis Roman Amphitheatre, also discovered in 1881, together with a group of tombs, all belonging to the first four centuries AD, near the original necropolis. Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) Cave of the Batida Fountain of the Lions Hospital of the Mercy and the Charity Church of Saint Bartholomew Tower of the Peak Market Cerezo Theatre Religious buildings Church of San Pedro (15th century). Its tower is a medieval replica of the Giralda bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville. Church of Santa Maria de la Asunción Church of El Salvador (17th century), in Baroque style Church of the Convent of Santa Ana