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Dalt Vila Gates Ibiza entrances to Ibiza's Fortified Old Town
There are 5 gates or entrances in Dalt Vila the fortified Ibiza old town.
- 1. Gate Portal de ses Taules. The main gate with drawbridge.
- 2. Gate Ballard de St Joan. The only gate that allows cars to & from Dalt Vila .
- 3. Gate Portal Nou. At the eastern end of Dalt Vila
- 4. Tunnel to Cathedral. At the rear of Dalt Vila near Car parks. The tunnel corkscrews upwards within the walls and does a 450 degree twist
- 5. Tunnel to Town hall. At the rear of Dalt Vila near Car parks. The Tunnel runs downwards under the outer side
of the wall
exiting level with the road within the walls. Because of the slope of the hillside the ground level is much lower within this section of wall.
- The two tunnel entrances are only 200 metres apart.
- Murder hole definition
1. Gate Portal de ses Taules or Porta de Mar (Sea Gate)
Portal de ses Taules is the main gateway into Dalt Vila, the old town of Ibiza (Eivissa). Of the 5 entrances this is the most spectacular with it's drawbridge and thick wooden gates.
Access is gained from a steep ramp that starts in C. D'Antoni Palau by the town market (Mercat Vell) . Ladies should note that this ramp and the streets, many steep, throughout Dalt Vila are made of shiny cobbles that can be extremely slippery. I therefore recommend sensible shoes instead of high heels.
The top of the ramp is a good place to view the 2 niches located on either side if the gateway containing roman statues , and the large coat of arms of Felip II and inscription below.
Looking to the right you can see how the canon positions protect the gateway.
On the left are the terraces of some gay bars that look good at night with there external coloured lighting.
A portcullis used to protected the gateway. Notice the thickness of the wooden gates, there are 2 sets. Also notice the thickness of the walls as you walk through into a courtyard, Placa d' Armes. Immediately opposite the gate way you will see a recess, this is where the guards could sit down on two benches and the enclosurecontained a fireplace.
Night & day view of Gate Portal de ses Taules. The main gateway into Dalt Vila
The gateway has impressive wooden gates, drawbridge and coat of arms above the gate.
Looking down from Sant Llucia bastion on to the ramp & drawbridge leading to Gate Portal de ses Taules and the Sant Joan bastion
Diagram of the Coat of Arms that can be seen above the gateway.
Gate Portal de ses Taules from
the courtyard, Placa d' Armes
The 2 sets of thick wooden gates of Gate Portal de ses Taules
Day & night views of Gate Portal de ses Taules courtyard Placa d' armes Located at the back of the far archway on the right side is Guard resting position
Guard resting position Just inside Main gate
Diagram Guard resting position
Gate Portal de ses Taules Gate
inner gateway at night. Photo taken from Placa de Vila
Inner Gate daytime. This gate way in located at the inner end of the Placa d' armes
2. Gate Ballard de St Joan.
The only gate that allows cars to & from Dalt Vila enters through the St Joan bastion, Ballard de St Joan.
Gate Ballard de St Joan
Gate Ballard de St Joan as viewed
from
the Portal Nou Bastion
3. Gates Portal Nou .
This gate is located on next to Sant Pere Bastion on it's the hill side and gained through the small park, parc Reina Sofia.
The gateway is tucked away in a corner and well protected from cannon fire by the bastion in front of it. The actual gate is recessed into the wall further protect from cannon.
When in the recess look up to see the wide murder hole covering the full width of the recess. Inside the gate there is another murder hole in the ceiling of the passage that has gates. notice the thickness of the walls, the passage is uphill and fairly fairly steep.
Gateway Portal Nou in Dalt Vila protected by the Sant Pere Bastion on the left
Night & Day photographs of the Portal Nou gateway, Dalt Vila.
Note how the gateway is recessed into the wall giving additional protection to
the gate way from cannon fire. The full width of the recess is
further protected by a Murder hole
WideMurder hole covering the full width of the recess out side Portal Nou Gate, Dalt Vila
Murder hole in Portal Nou passageway
Night & day photographs inside the Portal Nou passageway Dalt Vila
The inside of the Portal Nou gateway, Dalt Vila
Wooden Gates in Portal Nou Dalt gateway, Dalt Vila
4. Tunnel to Cathedral.
The external entrance is near the highest of the car parks that are at the rear of Dalt Vila accessed by C. del Calvari. The entrance built into the curtain wall by the right side of the Sant Bernat bastion is hidden by a mound of rock that would have also protected the entrance from cannon fire. The long steep tunnel winds up inside the walls doing a 270 degree twist. See drawing.
The tunnel exists onto the rampart walkway against the walls of the castle / Casa Govermental.
To go to the Cathedral continue in the same direction as you exit the tunnel and take the first turning to your left. Before doing this go in the other direction to the bastion and enjoy the magnificent view from this the highest bastion.
Drawing of Tunnel to Cathedral from outside the walls at the rear of Dalt Vila
Inside the Tunnel to the Cathedral
Murder hole in Tunnel to the Cathedral
5. Tunnel to the Town hall
The external entrance to the Tunnel to the Town hall is only 100 metres from the external entrance to the Tunnel to the Cathedral and accessed from the slightly lower car park. From the Car park at the very end of C. del Calvari go down the flight of steps and the tunnel entrance is in front of you in a hole in the ground.
This tunnel goes steeply downwards to a much lower level within Dalt Vila and exits into the Placa D' Espanya opposite the Town Hall, Ajuntament d' Eivissa. The Placa D' Espanya is one of the bus stops for the Vilabus on route 45
Entrance to Tunnel to Town hall in photo centre
Because of the location of the tunnel entrance in the ground rather than the wall. I wonder if this tunnel is a modern addition or if it was a secret entrance to the old town.
Murder Holes
Murder holes are holes in the ceiling of a passage or gateway allowing, well protected defenders to hurl stones, fire muskets or pour boiling water or oil , red hot sand or other nasty substances onto besiegers.
Another use of murder holes allowed the defenders to pour water onto gates if attempts were made to set them on fire by attackers
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