Walking along the remaining sections of Córdoba's ancient walls, you quickly realize how much history has been lost to progress. Most of what once protected this Roman capital for centuries was demolished in the 19th century when the city council decided walls were no longer useful. It's one of those moments where you wish people had thought twice before tearing down their heritage.

What strikes me most about the Roman walls of Córdoba is how they weren't just defensive structures. They marked the sacred boundary of the pomerium, separating the world of the living from the dead, the earthly from the divine. The original Republican wall enclosed a nearly square area with gates pointing toward the cardinal directions. After Julius Caesar destroyed much of the city and rebuilt it, the walls expanded southward to the Guadalquivir River, almost doubling the enclosed area to 78 hectares.

The Puerta del Puente remains the most impressive gateway, though what you see today is 16th-century work by Hernán Ruiz III. Standing here, you can still sense the Roman logic of having the main entrance where the bridge controlled river access. The massive stone blocks of the original walls, built with alternating headers and stretchers, show just how seriously Romans took their engineering.

Some gates survived better than others. The Puerta de Almodóvar, beautifully restored in the 1960s, sits surrounded by gardens where the Arroyo del Moro once flowed. The nearby Puerta de Sevilla still provides access to the San Basilio neighborhood, though it's been rebuilt multiple times. Other gates like Puerta Osario and Puerta Gallegos vanished completely, victims of urban expansion.

What fascinates me is how Córdoba's street layout still follows the Roman skeleton. Walking down Avenida del Flamenco, you're essentially tracing the old wall line. The city grew organically around these ancient foundations, and even today you can feel that underlying order.

The Torre del Rincón offers one of the clearest examples of how different periods layered their defenses. This octagonal tower marks where Roman and later Almohad walls met, creating the angle that gave it its name.

If you want to understand the full story, an audio guide helps connect the scattered fragments into a coherent narrative. These walls witnessed Roman conquest, Islamic expansion, and Christian reconquest. Each civilization adapted them rather than starting fresh, creating the complex palimpsest you see today.