Gate of the BCR Headquarters Building (Bucharest, Romania)

A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the supe ...

s. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

path A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...

; But other terms include ''

yett A yett (from the Old English and Scots language word for "gate") is a gate or grille of latticed wrought iron bars used for defensive purposes in castles and tower houses. Unlike a portcullis, which is raised and lowered vertically using mecha ...

and

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall or fence, rather than a

barrier A barrier or barricade is a physical structure which blocks or impedes something. Barrier may also refer to: Places * Barrier, Kentucky, a community in the United States * Barrier, Voerendaal, a place in the municipality of Voerendaal, Netherla ...

which closed it. Gates may prevent or control the entry or exit of individuals, or they may be merely decorative. The moving part or parts of a gateway may be considered "

doors A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

", as they are fixed at one side whilst opening and closing like one. A gate may have a

latch A latch or catch (called sneck in Northern England and Scotland) is a type of mechanical fastener that joins two (or more) objects or surfaces while allowing for their regular separation. A latch typically engages another piece of hardware on t ...

that can be raised and lowered to both open a gate or prevent it from swinging. Locks are also used on gates to increase the security. Larger gates can be used for a whole building, such as a

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

fortified town A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

. Actual doors can also be considered gates when they are used to block entry as prevalent within a

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the mos ...

. Today, many gate doors are opened by an automated gate operator.

Purpose-specific types of gate

* Baby gate a safety gate to protect babies and toddlers *

City gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

of a walled city * Hampshire gate (a.k.a. New Zealand gate, wire gate, etc.) * Kissing gate on footpath * Lychgate with a roof *

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * An ...

''Japanese:'' gate. The religious torii compares to the Chinese pailou (paifang), Indian torana, Indonesian Paduraksa and Korean hongsalmun. Mon are widespread, in Japanese gardens. *

Portcullis A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down gr ...

of a castle * Race gates a gate used checkpoints on race tracks. * Slip gate on footpaths * Turnstile *

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

of a castle by navigable water *

Slalom skiing Slalom is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline, involving skiing between poles or gates. These are spaced more closely than those in giant slalom, super-G, super giant slalom and Downhill (ski competition), downhill, necessitating ...

gates * Wicket gate

Image gallery

File:Gate ajar.jpg, This gate and massive gateposts has no locks—a gate marks a borderline in ownership/use and can allow passage. File:Garden Gate.JPG, A small, elegant gate to a meadow path File:Pergamonmuseum Babylon Ischtar-Tor.jpg, Ishtar Gate is the oldest

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

in existence File:Wringin Lawang, Trowulan.jpg, Wringin Lawang, a 14th-century

Majapahit Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...

split gate, called ''" Candi bentar"'', in Trowulan, Java, Indonesia File:Ubud temple entrance.jpg, Richly decorated Indonesian

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

nese temple gate called Paduraksa File:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia 8 by David Shankbone.jpg, This gate at Columbia University was closed to prevent entry of protesters File:Finlayson gate1.jpg, The gate of Finlayson factory in Tampere, Finland File:Kansai University,1923.jpg, A gate at Kansai University, built in 1923 File:MalKingsPalaceGate.jpg, Malaysian King's Palace Gate, Kuala Lampur File:Ohrid Upper Gate close-up.jpg, Medieval ironclad city gate, from the Upper Gate in the old town of Ohrid File:Chinese_type_gate_from_kerala.jpg, Chinese traditional type gate (iron gate in front of house) in Kerala, India File:MuscatRoadGate.jpg, Gates decorate routes in the entrance of Muscat, Oman File:Kuwaitgate.jpg, Kuwait Gate, historically surrounded

Kuwait City Kuwait City ( ar, مدينة الكويت) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economical centre of the emirate, ...

, built in 1929 File:Royal Military College of Canada front gates.jpg, Royal Military College of Canada front gates and

File:Ernst Rudolph By the Entrance.jpg, Ernst Rudolph, ''By the Entrance'' File:Royal_Mint_Melbourne.jpg, Decorative emblems of state are also fixed on gates to public buildings, old Royal Melbourne Mint File:Shri Swaminarayan Mandir gate.jpg, Gate of Shri Swaminarayan Mandir,

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...

, India File:Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University gate on the eve of Namvistar Din celebrations.png, Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University gate on the eve of Namvistar Din celebrations reflects Ajanata art File:Michael's Gate and tower-Bratislava-Slovakia.JPG, Michael's Gate in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, Slovakia File:St Louis Gateway Arch.jpg, St. Louis Gateway Arch File:Shunfeng Park Paifang (night).jpg, A Chinese Paifang at

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...

, China File:Warszawa, ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26-28 20170516 001.jpg, Warsaw University main gate, Poland File:Gate of Farm Gunsteling in Namibia (2017).jpg, Gate of Farm ''Gunsteling'' in Namibia (2017) File:Ancient gate of Suandok temple , Chiangmai , Thailand.jpg, Thai Temple ( wat) gate at

Wat Suan Dok Wat Suan Dok ( th, วัดสวนดอก, , roughly "flower garden temple"), also known as Wat Buppharam (, ) is a Buddhist temple (Wat) in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. It is a Royal Temple of the Third Class. The temple is on Suthep Ro ...

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai (, from th, เชียงใหม่ , nod, , เจียงใหม่ ), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the second largest city in ...

File:Ariyalai Mahamari Amman Kovil (அரியாலை மகாமாரி அம்மன் கோவில்).jpg, A gopuram, Hindu temple gate tower, in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

File:Eiheiji35nt3200.jpg, A Japanese temple gate (mon) at Eiheiji File:Puerta Torre de los siete suelos Alhambra Granada Spain.jpg, A Moorish architecture gate in

Alhambra The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the ...

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, Spain File:Gate of the Thai Embassy in Paris.jpg, A

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

-manner gate of the embassy of Thailand in Paris File:Embassy of South Korea in Moscow, gates.jpg, Adapted- Korean-manner gate of the embassy of South Korea in Moscow File:Iron Gates-Osgoode Hall National Historic Site of Canada-Toronto-Ontario-HPC4258-20221201.jpg, The Iron Gates of Osgoode Hall, Toronto

References

External links

{{Authority control Doors Fortification (architectural elements) Garden features

Purpose-specific types of gate

Image gallery

See also

References

External links