Bulwark of Spain

The bulwark of Spain is located at the southwest corner of the defences and was built by Aubusson in 1489. It is much smaller than the Bastion of Auvergne to the north  and the Bastion of England to the southeast, and was covered by their fire. On 20 September 1522 it was temporarily taken by the enemy but was recovered without loss of life by the Knights: the guns of the Bastion of Auvergne had annihilated the occupying Ottoman troops.

The bulwark has four faces and ends at the advance wall, not reaching the curtain. It contains a rather narrow firing gallery at moat level; and its heavy parapet with embrasures is probably later. The bulwark protects a round tower surrounded by a small ditch 3 metres wide. The tower is older and was originally open at the back, but the heavy damage of the 1522 siege, afterwards repaired by the Ottoman conquerors, makes a precise dating impossible. It that repair a number of Hospitaller tomb slabs were used; today they are on display at the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes.