Walled Cities

From the first day in Lisboa, to the last day in Dubrovnik we were confronted with Walled Cities. The purpose, of course was protection and some were used as forts, while others used to keep people safe. They were all pretty much the same design - square towers joined by high walls with gates, many of which are now missing as they were made of wood. Generally when you climb  the wall of the city you got a splendid view of the terracotta roofs of the newer towns (Usually called The New Town!) below.
Our first one was St Jorge Castle in Lisbon.
Built in 1147 when the Moors dominated the region, and added to, repaired and rebuilt over the centuries, with many of its towers still standing.

You can see the grey walls with trees growing on the top of the hill and the fortress part to the left. It seemed a little daunting that we would be walking up there after a four hour exploration walking tour in the morning.

But walk up there we did, and this is the view.

Excavations for an archaeological dig at St Jorge

This sphinx like creature was supposed to scare something away!

Inside St Jorges Castle. A castle has fortifications - a Palace does not.

Here is the Castle of Guimaraes next to the Palace of the Dukes of Braganza near Porto. This must have worked as a form of defense as Porto claimes itself to be "The Undefeated City"

In Morocco most of the old cities are walled for protection. They had , being in Africa, lions and tigers and jaguars roaming in the Atlas Mountains. They were Barbary Lions - very big but sadly almost certainly extinct as co-lateral damage in the fight to kill all the wild rabid dogs in the mountains using poison.

As we start to rise into the Atlas Mountains (where all the Moroccan runners do their training) there is a monument to the demise of the Barbary Lion. There are some hybrids still living in zoos.

This is a google shot. Haha.

Town planning was not a great strength of the early Moroccans and as the population expanded so the medinas became incredibly crowded and disorganised. We were warned not to go in alone. With the narrow streets and tall windowless buildings it is very disorientating. Also any age can ride a motorbike with no license.

Street in a medina in Marrakech

Not uncommon to see a terrified 2 yearold sitting on the handlebars.

On the Island of Hvar we started off in the Old town of Stari Grad. There is a model of the walled city. Then we went over the hill to the Hvar Town. This is when we decided not to climb up to the fort, but have tapas and wine-tasting.

A bit worried this might fall down on us

Bruschetta and white wine to start with. Mmmmm

Finally, no selection of walled cities would be complete without the Old Town of Dubrovnik. Of course it is not all that old as most of the roofs had to be replaced after the 91-95 war. We had planned to walk it in the morning when it was cooler, but one of the ladies on our tour collapsed through dehydration. Fortunately there are First Aid stops all the way along and she was OK - but it was VERY hot and crowded. Some of the people on the boat went up in the cablecar and looked down on the old city. At the top of the hill was a museum set in the actual building that the Serb occupied and we were keener to see this than to walk the wall.

Top of the hill, showing the old town and port

The outer walls as seen from the start of the cablecar.

So thats it - walled cities everywhere in all three countries. Forts, Castles, Towns, Cities, Medinas Kasbahs (for royal and military). I've missed some beautiful ones out too.