Medieval Wall

The wall encloses the medieval core of Burgos. It was built by Bishop Montoya in 1458, considering the situation that Castile was going through at the time of Henry IV, when the fortress of Osma was not considered sufficient defense for the town. The masonry wall of lime and stone with ashlars in the angles that serve as reinforcement and crowned with battlements, is preserved in some sections. Its layout, starting from the Puerta del Puente Viejo (Old Bridge Gate), bordered the river, turning at the height of Calle del Cubo (today Poeta Malo de Molina), crossed Calle Mayor, reached the current Calle Rodrigo Yusto, passed in front of the Seminary and crossed in front of the convent of El Carmen; from this point the wall would meet the bridge gate. Along the wall there were several gates, but the only one preserved is that of San Miguel, reformed in the time of Bishop Tello (1567-1578) as revealed by its arms. Montoya had the wall built for defensive reasons, but this was not its only function throughout history. The protection against plagues and various contagions was the object of special care on the part of the municipal authorities. The wall facilitated the collection of taxes on products that entered the town and was also the protagonist of ceremonial acts with a strong symbolic charge, among which was the entrance of the bishops who came to El Burgo to take possession. The prelate and his retinue would stop before the gate through which they were going to enter, then a representative of the town would ask the bishop, before passing through it, to swear to keep its uses, rights and praiseworthy customs as his predecessors had done; the bishop, after pronouncing the oath, would receive the keys of the town and, as spiritual and temporal lord and master of it, he would pass through the gate. The wall lost its raison d'être as a result of the expansion of the town in the 18th century with the creation of new urban spaces.