Historic town centre of Valderrobres

The historic centre of Valderrobres grew at the foot of the church and the castle down to the river. Its turning point came in 1390, when King Juan I granted the Archbishop of Zaragoza and lord of Valderrobres the privilege of levying excise taxes for ten years on the inhabitants of the town, with the aim of walling and fortifying the municipality. That same period was also used for the construction of the stone bridge.

The bridge crosses the river leading to what must from the very beginning have become the main entrance to the town. It is a typically medieval bridge, with solid foundations, a raised deck towards its central section, a steeper gradient towards the square, an ashlar masonry parapet, four visible and slightly pointed arches, and strong wedge-shaped cutwaters that prevent the build-up of logs and resist the pressure of the water during floods. This solid feat of engineering extends all the way to the square, passing beneath the town hall, which was built two hundred years later.

Access to the town centre via the bridge was closed off by the gate of San Roque, whose doorway is round-arched and topped by a niche housing the image of the patron saint, arrow slits, a machicolation and battlements. The marks left by the door bars are still visible from the inside. It is the finest example of the seven town gates that once existed. The other still visible is the portal de Vergós, in the upper part of the village heading west, flanked by an interesting tower with arrow slits.

Remnants of the original wall survive in various streets and houses, such as in the upper section of calle Huesca, that of Valentinet, the upper section of calle del Carmen and the descent to the washhouse on calle Santiago Hernández Ruiz. Inside some dwellings, arches, vaults and other Gothic structural elements are also visible: the Palau — the old administrative house of the town —, the Hospital — run by the parish and which extended beneath the church and the vicarage — and, above all, the Fonda de la Plaza, the building that most clearly preserves Gothic stylistic elements such as the gallery, the corner tower, the battlements and the gargoyles.