Muralla urbana - Cordoba

This city wall is as old as the city itself.

The first walls that the city had were built in the second century, during the Roman period, with a circumference of about 2,650 meters and an area of about 47.6 hectares. This walled enclosure had four doors facing each of the four cardinal points.

This wall stretched along the perimeter of the old historic center . Today only part of it has survived.

This is the western part of about 360 meters that has been preserved. Here is the Almodóvar Gate .

The wall protected its Roman, Arab and Christian inhabitants from possible invasions. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the wall lost its usefulness, both for its military function and as a customs office (tax on goods entering the city).

In the mid-19th century, hygienic doctrines also came from liberal Europe to the Iberian Peninsula. Since the presence of walls promoted poor hygiene conditions in cities and turned them into real nests of disease , this is the period when most of the ancient and medieval walls of all of Europe disappear . For example, the Puerta del Rincón was demolished in 1852, that of Gallegos in 1864 and that of Osario in 1905. The walls were destroyed in parts and abandoned.

Willem Vandenameele