Walls of Ston: Croatia- are a series of defensive stone walls that surrounded the city of Ston in Dalmatia region. They were built to protect the precious ‘salt pans’ that contributed to Dubrovnik’s wealth. After the area was conquered by Napoleon, the walls were damaged, dismantled and abandoned. Today only 5 kms of the original 7 kms can be seen, along with the 20 of the original 40 Towers.

Great Hedge of India- Not all walls were built of brick and mortar. During the 19th c, 4000 kms of Hedges were built to collect ‘salt taxes’. Officially called the ‘Inland Customs Line’, it stretched from the foothills of the Himalayas almost to the Bay of Bengal. It was eventually abandoned in 1879 when the tax was applied at the point of manufacture.

Sacsayhuaman:Peru-the walls of this Citadel, were built by carefully shaping the stones, so that they fit together perfectly, and stayed firmly locked without the use of any type of mortar. This Inca Empire fortress was used to defend the city during a siege in 1539. It is designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wailing Wall: Israel- also called the ‘Western Wall’, is a portion of the retaining wall built around Temple Mount during the expansion of the Second Jewish Temple. It is considered by Jews to be the most sacred of the four sides because it is closet to the site of the first temple. It is also one of the holiest sites in Islamic tradition, as the location of Prophet Muhammad’s ascension into Paradise.

Antifascistischer Schutzwall: Germany- popularly known as the ‘ Berlin Wall’ was built between the East German Zone in Berlin and West Berlin. It’s stated aim was to keep the people in and prevent others from entering East Germany. Work started in 1961 and was pulled down in 1989, after the GDR government announced people were free to cross. Officially, East and West Germany were reunited on October 3rd 1990.

Hadrian’s Wall:UK- a former defensive Roman fortification which was built to protect the Roman Lands from the native tribes. It is named after the Roman Emperor Hadrian who ordered its construction. Today it is regarded as a British Cultural Icon and designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Alpine Wall: Italy- During WW1, Italy and Austria were on opposing sides and fought bitter and bloody battles amid the snowy heights of the Alps. In the 1930s, Benito Mussolini was determined that his nation would not be threatened again and ordered the wall to be built. For all the efforts this 1800 kms wall was useless during the WW2 as France & Yugoslavia were conquered by Germany, Switzerland remained neutral and Austria was part of the New Greater Germany, an ally of Italy.

Maginot Line:France- is a line of concrete fortifications built in the 1930s to prevent a German surprise attack and to deter a cross border assault. The line was intended to run for almost 950 miles from the English Channel to Switzerland. It was a brilliant and strong defensive line, but unfortunately proved worthless during the WW2.

Siegfried Line: Germany- also known as ‘Westwall’ a defensive system built during the 1930s opposite to the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than 630 kms and featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels & tank traps. The aim was to cut off the British army from the Channel Ports.

The State Barrier Fence: Australia- this longest defensive line in the world in modern times is a fence not a wall. Strangely it was constructed to block the movements of Rabbits and other agricultural pest. The construction began in 1901 and when completed in 1907, the 1833 kms fence is the ‘longest unbroken fence in the world’.

“Pictures deface walls more often they decorate them”-William Wordsworth

365 Tours News Letter

If these ‘WALLS’ could speak ( 2 Min Read )