The old town of Drežnik is mentioned in the historic sources back in the 12th century. Its history has been marked by wars and its different rulers. The historic events in the area have mostly been marked by constant wars, which is also the reason that it did not develop as a trading place or a settlement but rather as a defence fortress. After 1830, the Austrian monarch sold the fortress to a private trader, who started demolishing the walls and selling stone as construction material. The defence tower has been renovated and from there the visitors can enjoy in the view over the canyon of the Korana river and the surrounding mountains and learn something on the history of this always dynamic border region.
References:The city walls of Avila were built in the 11th century to protect the citizens from the Moors. They have been well maintained throughout the centuries and are now a major tourist attraction as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can walk around about half of the length of the walls.
The layout of the city is an even quadrilateral with a perimeter of 2,516 m. Its walls, which consist in part of stones already used in earlier constructions, have an average thickness of 3 m. Access to the city is afforded by nine gates of different periods; twin 20 m high towers, linked by a semi-circular arch, flank the oldest ones, Puerta de San Vicente and Puerta del Alcázar.