Highlights of Tortosa: Avanzadas de San Juan (Part 1)

Greetings to all,

During my travel in Spain, Tortosa was one of the most interesting towns to visit.  I was there on a Sunday and with my group, we saw a sign pointing to the "Avanzadas de San Juan."  We had time and we decided to visit this site.  According to the Tourism website for Tortosa, this site is described as such:

"Building this fortified complex, known as “Avançades” and/or “hornabec”, began in the second half of the 17th century and includes two fortified structures of the epoch and a stretch from a previous fortification.

Access to the inner city is through the first fortified structure. This fortified block has a large long moat and ends in an arrowhead shape and although it is part of a more complex system, it could actually have been completely separate. The upper structure is dominated by several forts and buttresses intertwined with each other (first “avançades”, access path, “revellí”, covered bastion –guard quarters, main moat, courtyard, northern and southern double walls and inner moat).

The second fortified structure is formed by two half buttresses in a polygon layout connected by a stretch of wall. At the far west end it is attached to the 14th century wall, which is separated from the 17th century complex by a narrow deep moat.

Finally, there is the fourteenth century defensive stretch to which the defence complex is connected that has been being built throughout various historical periods." (http://www.tortosaturisme.cat/en/monuments/8-les-avancades-de-sant-joan)


Enjoy the photos below.