Portals of Vitoria-Gasteiz
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2016) |
The Portals or Arcs of Vitoria-Gasteiz were Medieval crenelated towers that fortified the entrances to a street of the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz (in Basque Country in Spain). This tower had a gateway in its center.
A cholera epidemic was used as a pretext to demolish these buildings, between 1854 and 1856. With this demolition, the city lost one of the most characteristic elements of the medieval Vitoria-Gasteiz.
City layout
[edit]The eastern city walls had a single entry or access to the Portal del Rey's side, which closed with solid doors every night, as all streets of the city closed.[1]
Access to union neighborhoods was protected by these gateways and corresponding towers.
These towers belonged to civilian Vitorian families who inhabited them and gave their surnames to these buildings.