The town wall was designed by a local man, Captain Andrés de Arce y Castro. It is a typical example of bastioned town walls of the period. However, it was not suitable as a modern fortification, as its construction was determined by the steepness of the land, the pre-existing houses, the urgency of the work undertaken and limited resources.

Modern fortifications have various qualities, such as: symmetry (regular form), strength (well built) and facilities (space to accommodate troops and weapons). But Vigo’s town walls were irregular in plan, weakly built, without ditches or esplanades and the houses were so closely packed together that they obstructed the defences. Its 11 bastions were small and located at different levels, which meant that the lower ones could be easily captured from the higher ones. Why were there so many problems with the defences?

The defences were built to protect the medieval centre of Vigo which is located on the slopes of Mount Castro. This is a difficult topography to build on due to the changes in height and slopes. The layout of the defences had to be adapted to the geography, with bastions built on the most level areas available.

The defences enclosed the main public and private buildings of the town leaving the Placer, Areal, Berbés and Falperra districts outside the walls. Seven gates provided access to the town, three on the coast and four on the landward side.

The Placer Bastion was located here, next to a slope, called Barranqueira which we can still see today. This is perhaps where the bastion’s other name “Foso bastion” (Ditch Bastion) comes from.

Bastions are a symbol of modern town walls

Modern town defences are different to medieval fortifications which had circular or rectangular towers. Modern defences were built to resist artillery attacks and have distinctive pentagon-shaped bastions that extend out from the town or curtain walls.

Bastions were built to defend the town walls and gates. Their size, height and angle of the sides were designed to prevent the enemy from entering the town. They were armed with cannons, providing cover fire between them and along the length of the walls.