Gallegos Gate, Demolished Roman city gate site in Córdoba, Spain

Gallegos Gate no longer stands: it was a city gate in the western wall of Córdoba, at today's junction of Calle Concepción and Paseo de la Victoria. It had two colossal columns with Roman capitals at its sides, and after the Christian conquest its upper part carried the arms of Castile in the centre and the shields of Córdoba on the fronts of its acroteria.

The gate began as the Roman Porta Principalis Sinistra, the western entrance of Corduba, where the Vía Augusta left for Hispalis. Under Islamic rule it was rebuilt as Bab al-Amir with cushioned ashlar and two colossal columns whose Roman capitals suggest reuse from the earlier gate. After the Christian conquest its upper section was renewed with the arms of Castile and the shields of Córdoba. Damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, it was rebuilt and finally demolished in 1864 to widen the exit toward the Paseo de la Victoria.

The name Gallegos may recall the Galician troops who entered with Fernando III in 1236, or the Galicians who gathered here as porters. After the Christian conquest the gate's upper part was rebuilt with the arms of Castile at its centre and the shields of Córdoba on the fronts of its acroteria.

The gate no longer stands: it occupied the spot where Calle Concepción meets the Paseo de la Victoria, on the western edge of the old walled city. Look for that junction when tracing the route of the Vía Augusta towards Seville. The area is now open, built-up ground crossed by the avenue laid out after the 1863 demolition.

The gate's Roman name, Porta Principalis Sinistra, marked it as the western entrance of Corduba, where the Vía Augusta left for Hispalis (Seville). Under Arab rule it was called Bab al-Amir. Its two colossal flanking columns had Roman capitals, probably reused from the earlier gate.