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The Walls of Dubrovnik ((クロアチア語:Dubrovačke gradske zidine)) are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the citizens of the afterward proclaimed maritime city-state of Dubrovnik (Ragusa), situated in southern Croatia, since the city's founding prior to the 7th century as a Byzantium castrum on a rocky island named Laus (Ragusia or Lave).〔"''...city's founding before the 7th century as a Byzantine castrum on a rocky island named Laus...''" The 7th century recorded by Constantine Porphyrogenitus as city's founding was probably the last act of peoples movement to Ragusia settlement, hurried by Slavs migration into these areas.〕 With numerous additions and modifications throughout their history, they have been considered to be amongst the great fortification systems of the Middle Ages, as they were never breached by a hostile army during this time period. In 1979, the old city of Dubrovnik, which includes a substantial portion of the old walls of Dubrovnik, joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The oldest systems of fortifications around the town were likely wooden palisades. Today's intact city walls, constructed mainly during the 12th–17th centuries, mostly a double line, have long been a source of pride for Dubrovnik.〔 The walls run an uninterrupted course of approximately in length, encircling most of the old city, and reach a maximum height of about .〔 The bulk of the existing walls and fortifications were constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries, but were continually extended and strengthened up until the 17th century.〔 This complex structure, amongst the largest and most complete in Europe, protected the freedom and safety of a "civilised" and "sophisticated" republic that flourished in peace and prosperity for five centuries.〔"''..., protected the freedom and safety of a "civilised" and "sophisticated" republic that flourished in peace and prosperity for five centuries.''" This sentence refers to the time of the Republic of Ragusa from 1358 to 1808. However, walls protected the city of Dubrovnik, before and after that particular time period.〕 The walls were reinforced by three circular and 14 quadrangular towers, five bastions (bulwarks), two angular fortifications and the large St. John's Fortress. Land Walls were additionally reinforced by one larger bastion and nine smaller semicircular ones, like the casemate Fort Bokar, the oldest preserved fort of that kind in Europe. The moat that ran around the outside section of the city walls which were armed by more than 120 cannons, made superb city defense. ==Former city walls== The construction of the first limestone forts around the city began in the Early Middle Ages, towards the end of the 8th century. But, the "old chronicles" say that some sort of castle reliably existed on the Lave peninsula quite a long time prior to that.〔 It is certain that the early town on Laus Island was also surrounded by defensive walls, probably mainly by wooden palisades.〔 The fact that Dubrovnik managed to survive a fifteen-month-long invasion by the Saracens in the 9th century proves how well the city was fortified.〔 The city first spread towards the uninhabited eastern part of the islet, which explains why the current name for the southeast part of the city, near St. John's Fortress, is called ''Pustijerna''. The name "Pustijerna" comes from the Latin statement "post terra", which means "outside the town". In the 9th and 10th centuries, the defensive wall enclosed the eastern portion of the city. When the sea channel separating the city from mainland was filled with earth in the 11th century, the city merged with the settlement on land, and soon, a single wall was built around the area of the present-day city core. During this same time period, Dubrovnik and the surrounding area were described as a part of the Croatian (''Grwasiah'') entity, in one of the works by the famous Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi. In his book ''Nuzhat al-Mushataq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq'' ((英語:Joy for those who wish to sail over the world)) from 1154, he mentioned Dubrovnik as the southernmost city of "the country of Croatia and Dalmatia".〔 The basic city plan dates from 1292, when the port was rebuilt following a fire.〔 The whole city was entirely enclosed in the 13th century, except for the Dominican monastery, which came under its protection later on, during the 14th century.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Dubrovnik City walls )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Walls of Dubrovnik」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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