The minaret was built by Abderramán III in the 10th century, although it has gradually disappeared after being partially demolished and encased in the Renaissance bell tower visible today, designed by Hernán Ruiz III and built between 1593 and 1617. The original appearance of the minaret, however, was reconstructed by Félix Hernández Giménez, with the help of archaeological evidence, historical texts and representations such as the one located in the Santa Catalina doorway, where the structure appears before its reconstruction.

The original minaret measured 47 metres and had a quadrangular base measuring 8.5 metres on each side. Like other later Andalusian and North African minarets, it consisted of a main body and a second tower or 'lantern', also square in plan, which crowned it. This second body was topped by a dome and a yamur that housed two gold and one silver metal spheres (often referred to as 'apples'), decreasing in size up to the top. The main body housed two staircases, built to ascend and descend by different entrances. Halfway up the staircase, the stairs were lit by three windows in horseshoe arches, decorated with alternating coloured voussoirs and surrounded by a rectangular alfiz, similar to that of the outer doors of the mosque. This triplet of windows was repeated on the upper level, and above this, on the top floor of the first body, there was a row of nine small windows of the same shape and decoration. The rim of the first body was crowned with a balustrade of saw-shaped battlements, similar to those commonly found in Morocco. The lantern was decorated with a horseshoe arch on each side, again alternating the colours of the voussoirs framed by an alfiz.

The construction of the new cathedral bell tower that clad the minaret began in 1593 and, after some delays, was completed in 1617. The design was by the architect Hernán Ruiz III, who built the structure up to the level of the bells, but died before its completion.5469 The project was continued and completed by Juan Sequero de Matilla, reaching a height of 54 metres, the tallest structure in the city. The bell tower houses a solid quadrangular structure up to the level of the bells, where serlianas open on each of its faces. Above this structure is a lantern, which in turn is crowned by a dome and at the top of which is a sculpture of the archangel Raphael, made by Pedro de la Paz and Bernabé Gómez del Río, and installed by Gaspar de la Peña in 1664, who was hired to solve structural problems. The base of the tower houses the Perdón door, one of the two northern doors of the building.