List of cities with defensive walls

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The following cities have, or have had, defensive walls.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Contents

[edit] Africa

[edit] Algeria

[edit] Egypt

  • Cairo
  • Al-Fustat
  • Damietta

See List of Egypt castles, forts, fortifications and city walls.

[edit] Ethiopia

[edit] Libya

[edit] Mali

The Kasbah of Aït Benhaddou, High Atlas
The seaside walls of Essaouira, Morocco

[edit] Morocco

[edit] Niger

  • Zinder, Niger was well known for its city wall, the remains of which can still be seen

[edit] Nigeria

[edit] Tunisia

[edit] Americas (North/South) and the Caribbean

[edit] Canada

  • The Ramparts of Quebec City are the only fortified city walls in the Americas north of Mexico that still exist.
  • Montreal, Quebec - Remnants of Montreal's nearly demolished city wall remain surrounding the Old Port neighborhood.
Walls and canons of the old city of Cartagena

[edit] Chile

[edit] Colombia

[edit] Cuba

[edit] Dominican Republic

[edit] Mexico

[edit] Peru

[edit] Puerto Rico

[edit] United States

[edit] Asia

[edit] Afghanistan

  • Balkh, the ancient city

[edit] China

Main article: Chinese city wall
Watch towers on the citywall in Xi'an, China

[edit] India

View onto the city of Bam in Iran

[edit] Iran

[edit] Iraq

[edit] Israel

[edit] Lebanon

[edit] Malaysia

  • Malacca - Built by the Portuguese after the city's occupation in 1511, it was torn down by the British in 1806. Known locally as the A Famosa.

[edit] Pakistan

Almost every old city in Pakistan had a defensive wall. Much of these walls were destroyed by the British in order to defortify the cites. Few cities which were fortified are:

[edit] Philippines

  • Intramuros - partially preserved, partially restored after World War II. Original walls are still well preserved.

[edit] Syria

[edit] Thailand

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: City walls in Thailand
Tapae Gate in the eastern wall surrounding the old city of Chiang Mai.

[edit] Uzbekistan

[edit] Vietnam

[edit] West Bank

[edit] Yemen

Surrounded by a fortified wall, the 16th-century city of Shibam, Yemen

[edit] Europe

[edit] Albania

[edit] Austria

[edit] Azerbaijan

  • Baku, retains most of its city walls that separate the historic Inner City from the newer parts of the city developed after 19-th century. (According to the CIA, Azerbaijan is more accurately placed in Asia, not Europe.)

[edit] Belgium

  • Binche - The city of Binche sports the most intact set of city walls of Belgium. Built in 1230 AD, they are 2.1 kilometers long and sport about 30 towers. There were six gates, but these have been demolished in the 19th century.
  • Brugges - Out of the 9 gates in the 14th century walls, 4 survive today.
  • Brussels - Of the first city wall, built in the 13th century, a small stretch of curtain wall and several isolated towers still remain. Of the second wall, only the Halle gate remains. The inner ring road of Brussels now occupies the location of this second wall.
  • Damme - The location of the 16th century, 7-sided ring of fortifications can still be seen from the air. A small portion of the inner and outer wall has recently[when?] been reconstructed.
  • Diest - To the north of the city centre, one can still find two polygonous fronts featuring a land gate; a watergate and a ravelin. An outer wall in front of this wall fragment sports two casemated caponieres. To the east, the shape of several bastions have remained intact. An outer work, to the east of the fortifications, is incorporated in a swimming pool complex. The Citadel remains mostly intact, although the side facing the city was demolished to make room for barracks. There is a small fortress to the north of the city centre.
  • Leuven - Several towers and fragments of the 12th century first wall of Leuven can be found throughout the city centre. Of the second wall, only the ground floor of a watchtower and the base of a watergate over the Dijle river still stand. The second wall was changed into a park in the 19th century, this park was largely destroyed and replaced by a ring road in the 20th century.
  • Liège - Several towers and fragments of the medieval city wall remain on the slopes to the north of the old town. The south side of the citadel, featuring three bastions and two ravelins, remains intact. The rest of the citadel was demolished and now the site houses a large hospital. A ring of detached fortresses still encloses the city.
  • Middelburg - Nothing remains above ground of the earth bastions that surrounded this tiny village (which should not be confused with its nearby, much larger Dutch namesake), but the location and course of the defences can still be recognized from air.
  • Mons - Several fragments of the first city wall of mons have been preserved. Of the later defences, only two bastion-like structures remain to the south of the city centre, but the location of the fortifications can still be seen in the zig-zagging street pattern on the east side of the city.
  • Namur - Nothing remains of the defences of the city itself, with the exception of the enormous arsenal building. The mighty citadel that grew out of the medieval count's castle, remains mostly intact and can be visited.
  • Tongeren - Important parts of the 13th century wall, including several towers and a gate, remain. Outside the medieval town, one can still find remnants of the first Roman wall, which enclosed a much larger area than the medieval wall. Of the much smaller second Roman wall, no above-ground remnants remain.
  • Veurne - The bendy route of the canal as well as the street plan around the city centre clearly indicate the location of the earthen bastions that used to surround the city.
  • Ypres - A wall with 3 unusually flat bastions defends the east side of the city. To the south a medieval gate and the lower portions of two medieval towers can be found. Both towers are defended by a ravelin.
  • Zandvliet - The "Conterscherp" road follows the route of the former 17th century defences around the city, giving the town centre a star shaped appearance from the air.
  • Zoutleeuw - Remnants of the first 12th century city wall and a gate can be found incorporated in the old city hall and the adjacent house. Outside the city, a bridge over the river Gete incorporates a partial reconstruction of a 14th century watergate belonging to the second wall. To the south of the city, several low hills in the landscape indicate the position of a Spanish-built citadel
The walled city of Dubrovnik in Croatia

[edit] Bulgaria

[edit] Croatia

  • Dubrovnik has well-preserved city fortifications including towers, gate, rampart walk and two citadels guarding the docks. Walls of Dubrovnik are among the finest and most complete in Europe.
  • Hvar
  • Korcula
  • Krk city walls which obtained their current appearance between the 12th and the 15th century but the town itself was fortified since Roman period
  • Ston: Walls of Ston were built in 14th-16th century, at the isthmus of the Pelješac peninsula, to the north of Dubrovnik; 890 meters long town wall and 5 km Great Wall outside the town Ston.
  • Karlovac city walls, built in 1579 as a six-point star with bastions.
  • The town of Split retains much of its ancient wall.
  • Zadar retains about half of its wall
  • Grožnjan

[edit] Cyprus

  • Famagusta has well preserved city fortifications
  • Nicosia the heart of the city is enclosed by 16th century Venetian walls

[edit] Czech Republic

[edit] Denmark

  • Fredericia, extensive renaissance ramparts to the north and west of the city.
  • Copenhagen, extensive renaissance ramparts to the south and east, trace remains to the north and west, nice fort at the harbor mouth, three small island fortlets outside the harbor entrance.

[edit] Estonia

  • Tallinn old town has a 2 km long town wall with 26 defence towers.

[edit] Finland

Hamina's arrow fortress
The sea fortress of Suomenlinna off the coast of Helsinki
  • Hamina Surrounded by about 4–5 km long star-shaped walled fortification
  • Suomenlinna An inhabited sea fortress off the coast of Helsinki

[edit] France

The walled city of Carcassonne in southern France
See also: Fortifications of Vauban

[edit] Georgia

Mestia towers, Georgia.

[edit] Germany

Tower and wall in town of Braubach, Germany
The great bulwark in Büdingen
Towers in Cologne, Germany part of former city wall
Tower in Regensburg, Germany part of former city wall
Rothenburg city wall
Sömmerda city wall
Worms, Germany city walls

[edit] Gibraltar

[edit] Greece

[edit] Hungary

  • Buda - the Castle Hill is surrounded by preserved medieval and early modern fortifications. Only a short section survived from the walls of the Víziváros neighbourhood.
  • Pest - segments of the 15th century city walls are preserved inside the courtyards of later houses.
  • Sopron - medieval circle of walls partly built on ancient Roman foundations
  • Pécs - long sections of the medieval walls are preserved and freed to later intrusions.
  • Veszprém - walled old town on Castle Hill
  • Székesfehérvár - long sections of the medieval walls are preserved
  • Sárospatak
  • Vác - some segments and one tower preserved
  • Eger - some segments preserved, mostly demolished
  • Győr - the walls were demolished in the 19th century but segments are preserved
  • Mosonmagyaróvár - the walls were demolished in the 1820s

[edit] Ireland

[edit] Italy

Towers for city wall in Genoa
Town wall in Jesi

[edit] Latvia

[edit] Lithuania

[edit] Macedonia

[edit] Malta

[edit] Montenegro

[edit] Netherlands

A map from 1662 of Amsterdam
The Prisoners' Gate of Bergen op Zoom
Aerial view of Brielle
The Mors Gate, the west gate of Leiden
The 13th century Hell's Gate in Maastricht
Aerial view of Naarden
The Saint Walpurga church and part of the city walls of Zutphen
The Sassen Gate of Zwolle

1: Fortifications (Almost) completely intact 2: Sizable parts of the fortifications remain intact 3: (Parts of the) walls and moats are preserved as parks 4: One or more individual structures (Bastions, gates, towers, etc.) remain. 5: Location of the fortifications can be traced in the street plan or location of (former) moats 6: No trace remains 7: The fortifications were reconstructed in recent times

[edit] Poland

City walls in Warsaw
  • Chełmno - almost whole length of walls (2.2 km), with 17 watch towers and city gate, 13th-14th cent.
  • Lębork - city ruins from the Medieval era
  • Lubań - partially preserved
  • Kraków - only the barbican, Floriańska Gate, two watch towers and some traces preserved
  • Olkusz
  • Paczków - very well preserved walls with 19 towers and 3 gates
  • Poznań – city walls existed until the early 19th century (fragments remain); Prussian fortifications were built in the 19th century
  • Pyrzyce - until World War II best preserved city walls in Pomerania region, from 14th cent.
  • Stargard Szczeciński - significant parts survived with 3 gates (including unique water gate - Brama Młyńska); one of the most interesting city walls in Poland
  • Szydłów - city walls with Krakowska Gate and watch towers built in 14th cent.
  • Toruń - several watch towers, three city gates and some sections (the longest and most impressive from Vistula) from 13th-15th centuries
  • Warsaw - partially preserved, partially restored after World War II, barbican restored
  • Zamość - complete renaissance and 19th century walls preserved
  • Przemyśl - partially preserved ruins.

[edit] Portugal

And more...

[edit] Romania

[edit] Russia

The Sassanian fortress in Derbent.
Smolensk City Wall in 1912.

[edit] Serbia

[edit] Slovakia

A part of the remaining defensive walls of Bratislava

[edit] Slovenia

  • Kranj evidence of 1st century fortifications with parts of medieval fortifications with four of the original 8 towers preserved
  • Ljubljana
  • Piran 7th century fortification expanded between 1470 and 1533

[edit] Spain

[edit] Sweden

[edit] Switzerland

Plan of Geneva and environs in 1841. The colossal fortifications, among the most important in Europe, were demolished ten years later.
  • Bellinzona (Dominated by its three castles: Castelgrande, Castello di Montebello and Castello di Sasso Corbaro)
  • Fribourg
  • Geneva
  • Gruyères
  • Lucerne: The wall on the northern bank of the Reuss River is well preserved and among the principal landmarks of the city.
  • Murten: Medieval walls

[edit] Turkey

A surviving section of the stone base of the walls of Troy, Turkey
  • Troy. The ancient city of Troy was famous for its defensive walls. There is archaeological evidence that Troy VII, generally identified as the stage of the legendary Trojan War of Homer's Iliad, usually dated between 1194 BC – 1184 BC, had walls with a carefully built stone base over four meters thick and some nine meters high in places, which was surmounted by a larger superstructure with towers in mudbrick. The walls in Homer's epic are so mighty that the siege of Troy by Achaeans lasts more than nine years, and only could be finished with the trickery of the Trojan Horse. Sections of the stone base of Trojan walls still survive on the archaeological site in present day Hisarlık, in Çanakkale province.
  • Istanbul. The system of walls around (as it was then known) Constantinople built in 412 by the Roman emperor Theodosius II was a complex stone barrier that stretched 6.5 kilometers and is often called the Wall of Theodosius. This barrier stood impregnable for ten centuries and resisted several violent sieges until 1453 when the Ottomans succeeded in breaching the walls. There was a new element in the battlefield: the Ottoman army had powder cannon and the walls offered limited resistance to them.
Roman walls of Diyarbakır, Turkey
  • Diyarbakır. Diyarbakır is surrounded by an almost intact, dramatic set of high walls of black basalt forming a 5.5 km (3.4 mi) circle around the old city. There are four gates into the old city and 82 watch-towers on the walls, which were built in antiquity, restored and extended by the Roman emperor Constantius in 349.

[edit] Ukraine

[edit] United Kingdom

Main article: List of town walls in England and Wales

[edit] England

  • Alnwick Grade 1 listed Bondgate (Hotspur Gateway) and section of wall remain of medival defences, Pottergate Tower is C18 rebuild of medieval gate and may incorporate some medieval fabric.[2]
  • Bath - Several fragments of the medieval wall still survive. The East Gate is the only remaining gateway. The length of wall opposite the Mineral Water Hospital is largely a reconstruction of the medieval wall. By far the best length, over 160ft, could until 1963 be seen on the site cleared by an air-raid in 1940. This was the SE corner of the medieval city. The remains of this wall now lie buried below the floor of the new Woolworths store.[3]
  • Berwick-upon-Tweed - the Elizabethan ramparts with their bastions, gateways and earthworks survive. Spades Mire is an earthwork linear ditches, possibly forming an outer line of defence for medieval Berwick. Situated on the south side of the ditch are traces of an accompanying rampart, now much spread and up to 13m wide. The Lord's Mount is a massive curved stone bulwark which was built in the 1540s to protect the town walls at their weakest point.[4]
  • Bridgnorth - the North Gate is still present, the site of the former Postern Gate still very visible; and parts of the wall now form garden walls in various parts of the town.
  • Bristol Castle
  • Canterbury
  • Carlisle
  • Chester - the city walls are one of the city's biggest tourist attractions. They were originally built by the Romans and continue to form a complete ring around much of the present-day city centre.
  • Chichester
Colchester Town Walls
  • Colchester - the town was surrounded by a wall built by the Romans after Boudica had sacked the town. Approximately half of the walls remain.
  • Coventry - the walls were demolished in 1662. Two gates survive, connected by a section of wall that runs through Lady Herbert's garden. Other small fragments dotted around the city centre, mainly hidden by modern buildings, include the remains of a bastion near Upper Well Street. Several fragments have been incorporated into newer buildings.
  • Durham - The Castle formed the largest part of Durham's defences, with the neighbouring "Backgate", demolished in the 1760s, which sat across Sadler Street. This was accompanied by a Gaol, which survived until the 1840s, remains of which are present in an alley off Sadler Street. Other walls surrounding the centre of Durham survive between the River Wear, and the houses lining a number of thoroughfares: Sadler Street, North Bailey, South Bailey, and Palace Green. The street names North Bailey and South Bailey are testament to this fact. It is debatable just how defensive these walls were, and some parts have since become garden walls. The archway of a Water Gate survives where South Bailey meets Prebends' Bridge.
  • Exeter
  • Great Yarmouth - about two-thirds of the wall remains. Of the original eighteen towers, eleven survive.
  • Hartlepool
  • Hereford
  • Kingston upon Hull
  • Leicester
  • Lincoln - fragmentary remains
  • London - fragments of London Wall, the wall that once surrounded the Roman town of Londinium, are still visible just outside the Museum of London and at Tower Hill in the City of London.
  • Ludlow - good lengths of the wall remain and a number of the gates too
Newcastle town wall

[edit] Northern Ireland

[edit] Scotland

[edit] Wales

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Palma2.jpg
  2. ^ "Alnwick Town Wall". Gatehouse. http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/2346.html. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 
  3. ^ "BATH CITY WALL". Gatehouse. http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/12.html. 
  4. ^ Berwick Town Wall. "Gate". Gtehouse. http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/2417.html. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 
  5. ^ "WINCHESTER CITY WALL". Gatehouse: A comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales and the Islands.. http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/1304.html. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 
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