Walls of Philip IV

Madrid with its walls (red line) in 1831.

The Walls of Felipe IV (Spanish: Real Cerca de Felipe IV) surrounded the city of Madrid between 1625 and 1868. Philip IV ordered their construction to replace the earlier Walls of Philip II and the Walls del Arrabal, which had already been surpassed by the growth of population of Madrid. These were not defensive walls, but essentially served fiscal and surveillance purposes: to control the access of goods to the city, ensure the collection of taxes, and to monitor who went in and out of Madrid. The materials used for construction were brick, mortar and compacted earth.

Plan of the Walls of Philip IV, with gates and portillos, published in 1847 in the Semanario Pintoresco Español.

It was one of five walls that surrounded the city of Madrid at different times.[1]

  1. ^ "Un Madrid con Horarios". Secretos de Madrid (in Spanish). 22 September 2014.