The Quart Towers are one of the two remaining gates of the old city wall of Valencia. They were built between 1441 and 1493 replacing an earlier tower built in the middle of the 11th century. The towers marked the entrance to the city coming from the Kingdom of Castile, arriving via ‘Quart de Poblet’, hence the name. Four different builders took part its construction over an almost fifty-year period. Between 1441 and 1443 a master stonemason Jaime Gallén and his son laid the foundations and between 1444 and 1446 the stone walls and vaulting were begun. However, work slowed in 1447 due to the city market burning and was further exacerbated by a plague outbreak in 1450. In 1451 another builder Francesc Baldomar took over construction and completed the vaulting on the first floor and began work on the machicolation from the second floor, he was replaced by his stonemason Jaime Pérez however work stalled again as attention instead was focussed on the Puerta Nuevo. The final builder Pere Bonfill recommenced work in 1469 with the construction of spiral staircases, paving and finishes, he completed it in 1493 with the installation of the impressive gargantuan doors.
Though the city was not placed under siege the towers continued to be used as a defensive structure. In the 17th century the tower was also being used as a women’s prison. In 1808 during the Battle of Valencia in the Peninsular War, French troops damaged the gate with cannonball and gunfire, many of these holes were kept even after restoration as a reminder of the Spanish victory over the French. In 1813 the towers became a military prison and even after the city walls were torn down in 1865 the Quart Towers and Serranos Towers survived thanks to their new life as prisons! The tower was damaged further due to cannon fire in 1873 during the short lived Cantonal rebellion of 1873 and was declared a national monument in 1931.
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