Florian Gate
The Florian Gate (St. Florian’s Gate) in Kraków, Poland, named after St. Florian, is one of the best-known Gothic towers in Poland, and a focal point of Kraków’s Old Town. The Florian Gate was built about the 1300s as a rectangular Gothic tower of “wild stone” part of the city fortifications that had been developed by Prince Leszek II the Black, who had issued a permit for erection of defenses in 1285. The Gate was manned by the Krakow Furriers Guild in anticipation of Turkish attack on the city. According to records, by 1473 there were 17 towers defending the city; a century later, there were 33. Also, in 1565–66 a municipal arsenal was built next to the Florian Gate. The Gate tower is 33.5 metres tall, with the top Baroque helmet constructed in 1660 and renovated in 1694, adding one meter to its height. It is the only city gate, of the original eight built in the Middle Ages, that were not dismantled during the 19th-century “modernization” of Kraków. The adjoining city walls and two additional smaller towers have been preserved and today host street displays of amateur art available for purchase. Krakow city vacations.
GPS travel help coordinates: 50° 3′ 53″ N, 19° 56′ 29″ E
Popularity: 1%
Interesting things to do:
