An impressive Roman fortress with a perimeter of over 2 km, crowned by semi-circular towers. A World Heritage Site, it offers unique views.

The heart of Lugo, formerly known as Lucus Augusti, is surrounded by a Roman wall with a circumference of over two kilometres. Anyone familiar with the beautiful medieval walls preserved in many European cities will be amazed by the sheer scale of this unique monument. For this impressive urban fortress, already one of the largest in its day, is today the only one to retain its full perimeter across the three continents over which the Roman Empire once stretched. For this reason, on 2 December 2000, UNESCO officially inscribed the walls of Lugo on the list of World Heritage Sites, following a decision taken on 30 November of that year. It is well known that around fifteen years before our era, the imperial legate Paulus Fabius Maximus founded the city of Lugo, Lucus Augusti, in honour of the reigning emperor, which was to become the capital of Gallaecia Lucense. Gallaecia at that time, which had just been incorporated into the Roman Empire following the so-called Cantabrian Wars, was divided into three major administrative districts or legal convents: Bracarense, Asturicense and Lucense. The region we now call Galicia covers the entire territory of Gallaecia Lucense, a small part of Gallaecia Bracarense and an even smaller part of Gallaecia Asturicense. Lucus Augusti was a major provincial city, strategically situated at an important transport hub; it is worth recalling that, according to Pliny, Rome obtained ten thousand pounds of gold a year from the mines of Gallaecia. Between the late third and early fourth centuries, when the city was already three hundred years old, a redevelopment took place which shifted its layout slightly northwards, although it continued to coincide for the most part with the original settlement. These were already critical times from a political and military perspective, and a powerful new defence was erected around Lugo: an impressive stone wall with a circumference of 2,266 metres, crowned by 85 large semicircular towers measuring between ten and thirteen metres in diameter, which originally rose above the parapet walk with large windows on each of their two or three storeys. The towers were accessed from within the city via open staircases at mid-height on the wall, which may have been supplemented by movable wooden staircases. The average thickness of the walls is six metres; the parapet walk, which now lies between eight and twelve metres above the level of the ground outside, would then have been of a more uniform height, and would have been crowned and defended by battlements. On the outside, moats over twenty metres wide and some five metres deep would have made it difficult both for siege engines to approach and for mines to be dug. The curtain walls, or sections of wall between the defence towers, range in width from 8.80 to 16.40 metres, so that any potential attackers would be caught in the defenders’ crossfire. Such was the Roman wall of Lugo, a city now two thousand years old. Seventeen centuries have passed; its military function has ceased; the towers, except for a remnant at A Mosqueira, have gradually crumbled; new gates have been opened – there are now ten; the town has spread beyond the walls... Yet the perimeter remains intact, and 71 turrets can still be seen up to the level of the parapet walk, giving this formidable fortress its unmistakable character. Of the original gates, three remain with little alteration, and one – the Miñá Gate – is almost exactly as it was built. Several of the garrison’s access staircases are now visible. The rampart walk, which is about four metres wide, is an extraordinary traditional promenade, accessed via relatively modern staircases attached to the inner wall. During the day, it offers the best vantage point over the old city – Roman, medieval, Baroque and liberal; at night, thanks to subtle lighting, it is a poetic walk steeped in mystery.