Located at an overlook in the Alfama district of Lisbon, the sign reads:
"CERCA VELHA
PORTAS DO SOL
(SEC. VIII - XII)
MONUMENTO NACIONAL
OS VESTÍGIOS DA 'CERCA VELHA'
OU "CERCA MOURA" TIVERAM A SUA ORIGEM
NUM PRIMEIRO SISTEMA DEFENSIVO
VISIGÓTICO QUE FOI RECUPERADO
PELOS MULÇUMANOS NO SÉC. X.
E MANTIDO NA RECONQUISTA
CRISTÃ DO SEC. XII.""
Translates as:
"OLD FENCE
DOORS OF THE SUN
(VIII - XII CENTURY)
NATIONAL MONUMENT
TRACES OF THE 'OLD FENCE'
OR "MOORISH FENCE" THAT HAD ITS ORIGIN
IN A FIRST VISIGOTH DEFENSIVE SYSTEM
THAT WAS RECUPERATED
BY THE MUSLIMS IN THE X CENTURY.
AND MAINTAINED IN THE CHRISTIAN RECONQUEST
IN THE XII CENTURY. "
and this website (
visit link) translated into English adds:
"The Old Fence, that delimited and defended Lisbon in medieval times, is recreated in a signaled pedestrian circuit that goes through Alfama, Castelo and See The route Walls of Lisbon:. Old Fence is inaugurated on September 26, as part of European Heritage Days .
Based on a rigorous historical and archaeological research carried out by the Museum of Lisbon and the Archaeology Centre in Lisbon, the route of the old fence can now be met on a footpath signposted through the streets of Alfama. The 16 informative totems placed in a circular path between the Fair Ground Street and St. Anthony's Miracle Street, guide the discovery of one of the oldest areas of the city through the medieval defensive system that lasted until the construction of the Ferdinand wall (1373-1375).
The urban model of Lisbon of the eleventh and twelfth centuries resembled the other cities deployed in hill. At the top stood the Alcazaba, distinct zone that included the castle, religious buildings and palaces of the elite, defended by a wall itself. Outside that area and around the urban core along the slope to the river, lay the defensive line that was called Old Fence.
The historical and archaeological research identified the route of this wall, now recreated through a route indicated by informative totems located at 16 sites."