Originally, it was possible to enter the fortress through a patch that bypassed the small ravelins placed to defend the gates. The defense bank, now cut off from the access road to the city, was controlled at the sides by two footbridges that were one with the walls. Walking along the patch that surrounded the raveling and passing through the footbridge, it was possible to reach a wooden bridge, useful to cross the first part of the moat, then reach the Monumental Gate, protected in turn by a drawbridge actioned by powerful wheels moved from the inside.

Unfortunately, to date, little remains of the footbridges: only two of these are still visible, one outside Cividale Gate and the other outside Aquileia Gate.