Walls del Arrabal

Although Madrid was small, it was considered important among the Medieval Castilian cities, as it was one of seventeen voting places for courts, held there on occasion.

[citation needed] The suburbs, or arrabales, took their names from convents, hermitages and churches constructed outside the Muslim Walls in the 12th century.

However, he left out the suburb of Santo Domingo and drew the walls as they existed in 1440, in times of John II of Castile.

According to León Pinelo, a new wall was built to accommodate the Castilian and Leon knights who came with Alfonso VIII (r.1158–1214), the only suburb at that time being San Martín.

[citation needed] Others place the construction between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, starting around the space known as the "Caños del Peral", now the Plaza de Isabel II.

According to Vallejo, it was built mainly for administrative and sanitary purposes, due to a great plague, one of the many misfortunes that struck Madrid during the 15th century.