By Isla Quinn
Slate. Grey, flat, layered. Then the surprise: the top of the wall is a path, and people use it.
What UNESCO says
UNESCO inscribed the Roman Walls of Lugo, in Galicia, in 2000, under criterion (iv). Its synthesis describes an oblong rectangle, 2,117 metres long, 8 to 10 metres high and 4.2 metres wide, reaching 7 metres in places. The materials are slate with some granite facings, a core of slate slabs and reused Roman stonework, and lime mortar. UNESCO counts 85 external towers, ten gates (five original, five opened in modern times), four staircases and two ramps up to the wall walk. A moat is recorded. The whole ensemble was declared a Historical-Artistic Ensemble in 1973.
Three lengths, three dates
The pages do not agree, and we do not choose.
- Length: UNESCO’s English synthesis says 2,117 metres, and so does a travel website, hoteles.net. UNESCO’s Japanese text gives 2,131 metres. A national newspaper, El Espa帽ol, says 2,266 metres of circuit and rounds it to “2 kil贸metros”.
- Date: UNESCO’s English short description says the later part of the 3rd century, and its synthesis says the 3rd to 4th centuries. The French, Spanish and Japanese texts say the late 2nd century. The newspaper’s headline says the 4th century, while its body says “more than two thousand years” ago. Hoteles.net says construction was finished in the 3rd century.
- Height: UNESCO gives 8 to 10 metres for the wall. Hoteles.net gives 8 to 12 metres for the outer side of the towers, a different measurement.
Our reading: the differences are probably down to what each source counts and which text it follows, but none of the pages says so.
The towers and gates
Hoteles.net and El Espa帽ol both say 85 towers were built and 71 survive. Hoteles.net adds that the towers stand 8.80 to 9.80 metres apart in some sections and 15.90 to 16.49 metres apart in others.
The same website names the five Roman gates: Porta Mi帽谩, Porta Falsa, Porta de San Pedro, Porta Nova and Porta de Santiago. It dates the later openings to 1853 (San Fernando), 1875 (Estaci贸n), 1888 (Obispo Izquierdo), 1894 (Obispo Aguirre) and 1921 (Obispo Odoario). It also says the wall was built after the city’s founding as Lucus Augusti in 13 BC.
Walking the top
Access is free, according to hoteles.net, and the walk along the top covers “algo m谩s de dos kil贸metros”, a little over two kilometres. The article gives no walking time, so we give none. El Espa帽ol calls the top the adarve and says it offers views over the old town and the modern city. It says the wall is the only Roman wall in the world to keep its full perimeter intact and walkable; hoteles.net calls it “the best preserved on the planet”. Both are the authors’ claims, and we treat them as such.
The wall is also part of daily life. Hoteles.net says residents use it as an everyday street.
A legend about the name
El Espa帽ol repeats a tradition that the Romans built the wall to protect the sacred grove, the lucus, that gave the city its name. We found no second source for it. Hoteles.net says only that the city sat near an earlier hill settlement, a castro.
Nearby
Hoteles.net lists the cathedral and its North Gate, the Palacio Episcopal, the Museo Provincial and the Plaza Mayor, and mentions the Termas and the Santa Eulalia de B贸veda archaeological site just outside the city. We read nothing more about them.
Dates in order
- 13 BC: Lucus Augusti founded, according to hoteles.net.
- Late 2nd, 3rd or 4th century: the wall, depending on the page.
- 1853 to 1921: five new gates, according to hoteles.net.
- 1921: declared an Asset of Cultural Interest by Royal Order of 16 April, according to UNESCO.
- 1973: Historical-Artistic Ensemble.
- 2000: UNESCO inscription.
What kind of sources these are
UNESCO’s World Heritage page, an international body; a travel website; and a national newspaper’s lifestyle section. The last two make “best preserved” claims that we did not test. No archaeologist’s report was read.
What we left out
Prices, opening hours, hotels, restaurants, the city’s festivals and any routes beyond the wall.
Quick answers
How long is Lugo’s Roman wall? UNESCO’s English synthesis says 2,117 metres. A newspaper says 2,266 metres, and UNESCO’s Japanese text says 2,131.
How many towers and gates are there? UNESCO counts 85 external towers and ten gates, five of them original. Two other sources say 71 towers survive.
Can you walk on top of it? Yes, according to a travel website, access is free and the top is a public walkway.
Related on this site: lladro-porcelain-marks-and-how-to-read-them, ensaimada-de-mallorca-igp-what-the-name-covers, manises-lustreware-reflective-gold-and-blue
Roam first. Shop later.