St. Florian's Gate or Florian Gate () in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, is one of the best-known

Polish Gothic The Gothic architecture, Gothic architecture arrived in Poland in the first half of the 13th century with the arrival of the Dominican Order, Dominican and Franciscans, Franciscan orders. The first elements of the new style are evident in the found ...

towers, and a focal point of Kraków's

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

. It was built about the 14th century as a rectangular Gothic tower of "wild stone","Wild stone" was red granite, used in 14th-century Kraków architecture. part of the city fortifications against

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

attack.

History

The tower, first mentioned in 1307, had been built as part of a protective rampart around Kraków after the Tatar attack of 1241 which destroyed most of the city. The permit for the construction of new city defenses featuring stone watchtowers, fortified gates and a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

was issued by Prince Leszek II the Black in 1285. The gate named after St. Florian became the main entryway to the Old Town. It was connected by a long bridge to the circular barbican (''

barbakan A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

''), erected of brick, on the other side of the moat. The Gate was manned by the Kraków Furriers Guild. According to records, by 1473 there were 17 towers defending the city; a century later, there were 33. At the height of its existence, the wall featured 47 watchtowers and eight gates. Also, in 1565–66 a municipal

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

was built next to St. Florian's Gate. The Gate tower is 33.5 metres tall. The

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

metal "helmet" that crowns the gate, constructed in 1660 and renovated in 1694, adds another metre to the height of the gate. ''Brama Floriańska'' is the only

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 the original eight built in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, that was not dismantled during the 19th-century "modernization" of Kraków. The adjoining city walls and two additional, smaller towers had been preserved and today host street displays of amateur art available for purchase. The south face of St. Florian's Gate is adorned with an 18th-century

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

of St. Florian. The tower's north face bears a stone eagle that was carved in 1882 by Zygmunt Langman, based on a design by painter

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

. Inside the gate is an altar with a late-Baroque copy of a

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

painting of the Piaskowa Madonna.

Royal Route

Kraków's Royal Road begins at St. Florian's Gate, and the gate is a terminating vista at its north end. Through it once entered kings and princes, foreign envoys and distinguished guests, and parades and coronation processions. They travelled up ''ulica Floriańska'' ( St. Florian's Street) to the Main Market Square, and on up ''ulica Grodzka'' (Castle Street) to

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

. By the beginning of the 19th century, the expanding city had largely outgrown the confines of the old

city walls 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 such as curtain walls with to ...

. The walls had been falling into disrepair for a hundred years due to lack of maintenance after the foreign

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

. The stagnant moat fed by the Rudawa River was a dump for illegal garbage and posed health concerns for the city. Such dire circumstances inspired Emperor Franz I of

Austro-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

to order the dismantling of the city walls. However, on January 13, 1817, Professor Feliks Radwański of

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

managed to convince the Session of the Senate of the Republic of Kraków to legislate the partial preservation of the old fortifications—St. Florian's Gate and the adjoining barbican.

City walls

Until the 19th century, Kraków had massive

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

city walls. The inner wall was some 2.4 meters wide and 6–7 meters high. Ten meters outside the inner wall was an outer, lower one. The walls were punctuated by defensive towers 10 metres high. In the 19th century — just before they were demolished by the Austrian authorities — there were 47 towers still standing. Now there are only three Gothic towers left in all Kraków: the Carpenters', Haberdashers' and Joiners' Towers, connected to St. Florian's Gate by walls several dozen meters long. File:MZK 002 Nr 12 Das Florianitor in Krakau - Tafel Gesamtansicht Essenwein.jpg, Original appearance of St. Florian's Gate and the barbican (1857) File:Florian Gate, view from Planty Park, Old Town, Kraków, Poland.jpg, St. Florian's Gate, view from the Planty Park File:MuryObronneIBramaFloriańska-WidokZBasztyPasamoników-POL, Kraków.jpg, St. Florian's Gate and defensive walls File:Kraków - ul.floriańska - panoramio.jpg, St. Florian's gate at dusk File:Princes Czrtoryski Family chapel, St. Florian's Gate, Pijarska street, Old Town, Krakow, Poland.jpg, Princes

Czartoryski Family The House of Czartoryski (feminine form: Czartoryska, plural: Czartoryscy; ) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian- Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia. The family, which derived their kin from the Gediminids dynasty, by the mid-17 ...

Chapel File:Chapel in the Gate, St. Florian's Gate, Pijarska Street, Old Town, Kraków, Poland.jpg, A chapel inside St. Florian's Gate File:BramaFloriańska-OrzełPiastowski-POL, Kraków.jpg,

Bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

of Piast Eagle, designed by

, over gate entrance File:BramaFloriańska-PłaskorzeźbaŚwFloriana-POL, Kraków.jpg, 18th-century bas-relief depicting

Saint Florian Florian (; AD 250 – 304) was a Christian holy man and the patron saint of chimney sweeps; soapmakers, and firefighters. His feast day is 4 May. Florian is also the patron saint of Poland, the city of Linz, Austria, and Upper Austria, jointl ...

Notes

External links

About Florian Gate and the City Walls at www.krakow4u.pl

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Florian's Gate Buildings and structures completed in the 14th century Gates in Poland Buildings and structures in Kraków Monuments and memorials in Kraków Terminating vistas Gothic architecture in Kraków City gates

History

Royal Route

City walls

See also

Notes

External links