City walls of Warsaw

City walls of Warsaw are walls around Warsaw Old Town. They are composed of two lines – inner and outer, with several gates round the city. Originally raised between the XIII and XVI centuries, then rebuilt in 1950–1963, partly later. The best preserved fragments of the fortification are those parallel to Podwale street, from the Warsaw Royal Castle to the Barbican Barbican and further to the Vistula Embankment.

Plan of the Walls
1.	The Royal Castle a)	Town Gate 2.	a)   Arch cathedral of St John the Baptist b)	Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesuit monastery c)	Church of St Martin and Franciscan convent (formerly Augustinian monastery) 3.	The Old Town Marketplace a)	Zakrzewski Side b)	Kołłątaj Side c)	Dekert Side d)	Barss Side e)	Old Town Mermaid 4.	Monuments: a)	Column of King Sigismund III Vasa b)	Statue of Jan Kiliński c)	Monument to Young Heroes of the Warsaw Uprising 5.	Town Walls: a)	Bridge once leading to the Cracow Gate b)	The Inner and outer walls with towers and turrets c)	Barbican d)	Knight’s Tower e)	Powder Tower f)	Marshall’s Tower

History
The construction works of the first line of the walls were started probably around 1280. In effect, 1200 – meter long wall encircled the surface of 8,5 hectares. The fortification included numerous towers and turrets (majority of them had was in rectangular shape). The inner ring was built before 1339. In 1379, as a result of a special privilege, Prince Janusz I the Elder, made the townspeople responsible for the maintenance of the town walls. According to the second privilege (of 1413) between the second half of the XV century and the beginning of the XVI century, the outer ring was raised. The second line was about 4 meters shorter, yet approximately 0,6 m thicker. The whole construction was surrounded by a 4 – meter deep moat.

The Barbican – designed by Jan Baptist the Venetian  and built in 1548. The youngest element of the city’s fortification. Divides the New and Old Towns. Nowadays major tourist attraction and summer art gallery. Back in VI century was well equipped for modern warfare.

Renovation
The first attempt of renovation took place in 1936. In October 1938 the uncovered section of the walls was unveiled in a special ceremony. After the WWII reconstruction work proceeded in 1953 – 54, however concerning only some particularly interesting and attractive sections, for example Barbican.