Roman Walls of Lugo

A great example of Roman military architecture

Roman Walls of Lugo, a city in the Autonomous Region of Galicia in north-western Spain, are an exceptional architectural, archaeological and constructive legacy of Roman engineering, dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.

The Walls are built of internal and external stone facings of slate with some granite, with a core filling of a conglomerate of slate slabs and worked stone pieces from Roman buildings, interlocked with lime mortar. Their total length of 2117m in the shape of an oblong rectangle occupies an area of 1.68ha. Their height varies between 8 and 10m, with a width of 4.2m, reaching 7m in some specific points.

The walls still contain 85 external towers, 10 gates (five of which are original and five that were opened in modern times), four staircases and two ramps providing access to the walkway along the top of the walls, one of which is internal and the other external. Each tower contained access stairs leading from the intervallum to the wall walk of the town wall, of which a total of 21 have been discovered to date.

The defences of Lugo are the most complete and best preserved example of Roman military architecture in the Western Roman Empire.

Despite the renovation work carried out, the walls conserve their original layout and the construction features associated with their defensive purpose, with walls, battlements, towers, fortifications, both modern and original gates and stairways, and a moat.

Since they were built, the walls have defined the layout and growth of the city, which was declared a Historical-Artistic Ensemble in 1973, forming a part of it and becoming an emblematic structure that can be freely accessed to walk along.

The local inhabitants and visitors alike have used them as an area for enjoyment and as a part of urban life for centuries.

The Roman walls of Lugo are the finest surviving example of late Roman military fortifications (Criterion (iv)).

Integrity

Roman Walls of Lugo visibly conserve their original layout and more than half of their original towers and defensive structures, gates, stairways and other elements, together with a large number of archaeological remains from the period, which help to situate the structure within its historical context, and bear witness to its creation and evolution.

The property boundaries include the whole fortifications, while the intramural and extramural areas are included in a buffer zone.

Very few monumental complexes can offer the same historical authenticity and archaeological integrity, both in terms of their size and their inclusion within an urban setting, and their continued use, as part of a wider and increasingly well-known context offering a large number of archaeological remains associated with the monument.

Its originality was confirmed by the findings that have been made and the studies carried out on its full layout and structure, on the moat, or on the recovery of its original gateways and stairways, all solid proof of its Roman origins (from between the third and fourth centuries AD).