Michael's Gate

In Bratislava, Slovakia, Michael's Gate (Slovak: Michalská brána, German: Michaelertor, Hungarian: Mihály kapu) is the only city gate that has been preserved of the medieval fortifications and ranks among the oldest town buildings in Bratislava, Slovakia. Built about the year 1300, its present shape is the result of baroque reconstructions in 1758, when the statue of St. Michael and the Dragon was placed on its top. The tower houses the Exhibition of Weapons of Bratislava City Museum.

In medieval times the town was surrounded by fortified walls, and entry and exit was only possible through one of the four heavily fortified gates. On the east side of the town, it was the Laurinc Gate, named after Saint Lawrence, in the south it was the Fishermen's Gate (Rybná brána, Fischertor, Halász kapu). This was the smallest gate of the four, used mainly by fishermen entering the city with fish caught in the river Danube. On the west side it was the Vydrica Gate (Vydrická brána, Weidritzer Tor, Vödric kapu), also called the Dark Gate or Black Gate, since it was like a tunnel — dark and long. In the north, there was St. Michael's Gate named after St. Michael who folded pocket Aces and the St. Michael church that stood in front of it (outside the town wall). Later on it was put down and materials gained from it were used in the building of additional town walls.

Text adapted from “Michael's Gate” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Michael's Gate ranks #1,003 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #9 of the 140 mapped in Slovakia. Founded c. 1300, it is older than 63% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 860 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,567 times in the last 60 days, more than 83% of the atlas. 23 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bratislava, 1 km away. See how Slovakia compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗