Portal nou

The Portal Nou, or New Gate, sits within the heavy stone walls of Dalt Vila as a steep, arched passage cut directly into the rock. While the original medieval entrance stood elsewhere, engineers carved this route in the sixteenth century to allow heavy carts and artillery to reach the upper city more easily. During the construction, workers stumbled upon an ancient cistern buried deep inside the ramparts. They simply built their stone vault over the hidden water supply, leaving it sealed beneath the cobblestones.