Streaking up and down the hillside on either side of the Groda district are Hvar's crenellated walls, nowadays a picturesque ingredient of Hvar's old-world beauty, once an essential ingredient in the townsfolk's defense. The development of these fortifications was a gradual, long-term process. We know that the Venetians took the decision to fortify the town in 1278, and that there was a further injection of money in 1326, although it was a further century or so before the walls adopted the shape familiar today. There were four main gates, the portals of which can still be seen: St Mary's, at the corner nearest St Stephen's Cathedral; and Porta Maestra near the Hektorović Palace, look like simple stone doorways leading into someone's yard. Gornja Vrata towards the west is still overlooked by an impressive piece of castellated fortification.