Puerta de San Vicente - Barcelona, Spain
Posted by: 
denben
N 41° 22.150 E 002° 08.802
31T E 428637 N 4580090
The entrance gate to the Poble Espanyol in Barcelona is a replica of the Puerta de San Vicente one of the nine gates that make up the wall that surrounds the city of Ávila, Castilla y León.
Waymark Code: WMQNGA
Location: Cataluña, Spain
Date Posted: 03/08/2016
Views: 15
Conceived as a real village, Poble Espanyol is a selection of full-scale replicas of buildings from different parts of Spain. It was built in 1929 for the Barcelona International Exhibition and has been kept for visitors to enjoy an open-air Spanish architectural museum while strolling around its squares, streets and gardens. The reproduction of the Puerta de San Vicente (Saint Vincent´s Gate) is made up of two 17-metre high cylindrical towers joined at the top to form a bridge from which the entrance gate was defended.
The ancient walls, which still enclose the heart of Avila's old town are the best preserved in Spain. After the Christian Reconquest of Avila, the ramparts became an important line of defense against the Moors. Raimundo de Borgoña, son-in-law of Alfonso VI, built the massive circuit of walls between 1090 and 1099. With a rectangular shape following the circumference of the town, the circuit extends 2,557 meters. The imposing stone wall was ideally designed to defend the city from attacks; it features an average height of 12 meters along with crenellated towers and round turrets (every 20 meters) for observing oncoming invaders. Nine entrance gates provided access to the city. The most spectacular gates are the Puerta de San Vicente and the Puerta del Alcázar, which incorporate repurposed Roman-era stones.
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