Hebrew-English Guide to Soncino

33 THE WALLS THE WALLS The beautiful walls were erected in 1247, during the lordship of Buo- so da Dovara. First the Venetians and then the Sforzas promoted the fortification of the walls in the second half of the XV century. The city walls have never been modernized and they remained the same until nowadays, except for the replacement of the four doors, during the XIX century, with the construction of two couples of pil- lars made with Rezzato stones. The walls are two kilometers long and it is possible to travel along them both on foot and by car. San Giuseppe Bastion, near Porta di Sotto (from which the road to Cremona began) was a formidable bulwark equipped with internal communicating spaces and escape exits. Along the western side of the moat, always flooded, there are the remains of the closure, that allowed to flood even the south side of the moat. Next to it, there are the ruins of a bridge which was the main escape route in case of siege.