Walls, which in other European countries were a characteristic feature of the city, were built at a slower pace in medieval Hungary. In 1351, King Louis I wanted to encourage towns to build fortifications of brick with his decree, which gave such settlements (civitates muratae) dispensed with the payment of the newly established ninth. Construction Walls in Prešov was supported by Louis I in 1374 by granting the local community privileges in the trade of textiles and handicrafts, following the example of Buda. In one document, King Sigismund of Luxembourg or his chancellery even described the construction works in question as „re-establishment“ cities.
Around the second half of the 14th century the city of Prešov was building a belt of protective walls. At first it had only three walls reinforced by large barbicanes at the Upper and Lower Gates. The inner wall had an ochodza with shooting galleries, the second wall was part of the parkan and the third wall was the outer wall of the moat. On the west side of this stood the so-called Little Gate, leading to the Toris. At the beginning of the construction of the city walls, an experienced master had the leading word Ambrose of Diósgyör, who was sent to Prešov by the king Louis I, who wished that the people of Prešov would not build towers, but would leave places free for them. In spite of the above-mentioned royal concessions, the townspeople continued to build fortifications very slowly, which is why the new ruler Sigismund of Luxembourg granted them further privileges and benefits. From 1404, Prešov citizens were allowed to cut wood, quarry stone and burn lime for the construction of the walls anywhere on the royal land, and from 1405, the townspeople of Veľký Šariš had to help them in this as well. At that time they added a lower wall to the existing walls (parkán). In 1433, Cardinal Julianu even allowed them to work on Sundays and holidays. In accordance with the general order to rebuild and reinforce the walls of 1435, the walls and the city moat in Prešov were also extended, and two mills in the western part of the city were destroyed. The town was then extended westwards by another block of houses and in the south the medieval Carmelite hospital, originally located behind the walls, was incorporated into the town's intramural area. However, work continued at a very slow pace and was only accelerated by the danger of an attack by the Hussite army. The construction of the city fortifications was completed in the mid-1530s. In the meantime, it had to be demolished on the western side to make way for a new street (Jarkova) on the site of the former moat, and then rebuilt on a new site.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Prešov builder Ján participated in the protective constructions. He is said to have built the city gate, the tower in the north-western part of the city and also participated in the outer fortification wall. The massive triple belt of walls with a moat was fortified with bastions. The original fortification system of the city of Prešov consisted of two rings of walls interspersed with bastions, towers and a moat filled with water from the Mill Yard. (Considering the fact that mills existed in Prešov as early as the 13th century, we can consider the now defunct trough of the Mill Ditch and its surroundings as one of the oldest parts of the city.) When in 1751 the military function of the city ceased to be relevant, Maria Theresa ordered the abolition of the city fortifications and had all the weapons transported to Košice. From the end of the 18th century onwards, the gates, bastions and walls gradually had to give way to new construction.
However, as a result of several factors, these parts of the town fortification have been preserved to this day:
Kumšt - the so-called water bastion on today's Kumšt Street. Since the 16th century, a technically remarkable device for pumping water from the Mill Ditch was located in the basement of the disused bastion and distributed in wooden pipes around the town. (Machina hydraulics). It was powered by horse power. The Bastion later fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in 1930, where it housed the Jewish Museum. Today the building houses the depository of the Regional Museum in Prešov.
City ditch, which has been preserved with a part of the fortification wall on the eastern side of the town (under the Kmet's tree line) parallel to the Slovak Street. It belongs to several buildings, on the southern side there is a Garden of Art, where there was a swimming pool in the 1970s.
Polygonal bastion behind the Franciscan church extending towards the ground
Medieval bastion on Kováčská Street is the only preserved cannon bastion from the last phase of fortification construction and is an example of an object from an earlier period of fortification construction. Nowadays it serves as a viewing platform and sometimes for cultural purposes.
Castle walls have been partially preserved also on Baštova Street on the western side of the town, but only to a small extent, as residential ground-floor houses were added to the wall of the town fortification.
Florian's Gate : The largest building among the preserved parts of the city fortification. It served as a gate for pedestrians and the outlet of the city canal into the moat. It was modified to its present form at the end of the 18th century. The adjacent building, adapted from the castle wall, housed the town's public hospital, the poorhouse and the so-called "."salons house" (shelter for the mentally ill).
Foundations of the western gate of the medieval fortification of the town from the 15th century on Floriánova Street: nThe climb is located on both sides of the walkway under the arch of Florian's Gate. It is a 70 centimetre wall. There is a stone paving used on Main Street to draw attention to the historic findings.
At 49 Main Street there is a 3D bronze model of the historical core of Prešov from the 18th century.
