Stop 1 · Croatia
Dubrovnik
The Republic of Ragusa abolished slavery in 1416 and kept its independence until Napoleon arrived in 1808. The walls have never been breached by assault.
Towns still ringed by their medieval walls
Five places where you can walk a complete, or very nearly complete, circuit of the old defences on foot.
The five stops
Stop 2 · France
Carcassonne
Those pointed slate roofs are a 19th-century restorer's invention — the originals were flat terracotta. The board game is named after it.
Stop 3 · Spain
Ávila
Its 2.5 km circuit is the most complete medieval wall in Spain — and the cathedral's apse is built into it as one of the towers.
Stop 4 · United Kingdom
York
The 3.4 km wall follows the Roman line in places and still has four medieval gatehouses. The Minster took 250 years to build.
Stop 5 · Germany
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Forty percent of it was destroyed by bombing in 1945, then rebuilt stone by stone using donations from around the world.
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Think you'd have found them? Play today's expedition, or replay this one from the archive.