Interesting places / The Hondarribia Wall

City: Hondarribia


Hondarribia , as a medieval town founded in 1203, had to have a wall that surrounded the town area. This wall’s layout was extended several times due to the development of the town’s structure. Nowadays, constructive structures made of limestone masonry of which this wall’s medieval layout could have been survive. Proof of this are the visible remains outside the parish church.

The large stronghold fortification works were undertaken at the end of the fifteenth century and at the beginning of the sixteenth. This can be seen from the turrets, the bastions, the moats and the drawbridges that were raised, protecting the population that lived on the hill. Access to the space inside the walls was gained through two gates, the Santa Maria gate and the San Nicolas gate, both preceded by drawbridges.

The Santa Maria Turret, the Queen’s Bastion, the San Nicolas Bastion, the Santiago Bastion are structures that have lasted until the present day. This is not the case of the Magdalena Turret or Bastion , the remains of which must be under the present day town structure. As from the seventeenth century, the fortified enclosure was extended with the construction of the San Nicolas and the Guevara revellines, as well as the counterscarp.
 

Historical Monument



Photo of The Hondarribia Wall