The Wall

In the fifteenth century the Consell de Cent commissioned the enlargement of the city’s perimeter wall, extending the 13th century wall to include the Raval area (at that time consisting of fields where there was little more than vegetable gardens and monasteries.)  This 14th century wall should have stopped at the level of Boqueria Street, around the same point as that of the 13th century, but King Peter III “the Ceremonious” asked for it to extend as far as the Royal Dockyards. In concession, joint use of the arsenal was agreed.
The inclusion of the Raval within the walls was not primarily to protect the urban fabric or dwellings, but rather to dispose of sufficient rural land for fruit and vegetable growing as well as space for livestock and other sources of food in the event of a siege.
The wall was built from Montjuïc stone and was of a thickness ranging between 2.20 and 3.00 metres. In the main, small or medium-sized irregularly shaped ashlars were used, cemented with lime mortar, to which was applied an ochre-coloured patina.
This wall, which was pitched for defensive purposes, had a perimeter of approximately 6km and was divided by towers which were either circular, semicircular or square, as can be seen at the Dockyards, and fifteen gates in total, to give access.

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