Roman Walls of Lugo
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How it came to be
Lugo, in Galicia in north-western Spain, was the Roman town of Lucus Augusti. In the 3rd century the Romans enclosed it with stone walls to defend it. A moat ran outside the walls, and a clear strip separated the wall from the town on the inside.
The circuit is about 2.1 km long and 4.2 m thick. Stone facings on both sides hold a core packed with material that includes worked stone taken from demolished Roman buildings. More than 80 towers line the wall, and there are ten gates. Five date from Roman times, and five were opened after 1853 as the town grew.
In the Middle Ages pilgrims bound for Santiago de Compostela passed through gates such as the Porta Miña. The walls became a national monument on 16 April 1921, and in 1973 the whole circuit passed into state ownership. The walkway along the top is open to everyone and is part of daily life in the town. UNESCO inscribed the walls in 2000 as the finest surviving example of late Roman fortifications in western Europe.
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