The Golden Gate (, ) is a historic

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

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 ...

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

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 ...

. It is located within the Royal Route, the most prominent part of the Old Town and is one of its most notable

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

History

It was created in 1612–14 in place of a 13th-century Gothic gate, the ''Brama Długouliczna'' (Long Street Gate). It is located at one end of

Ulica Długa Ulica may refer to the following places in Poland: * Ulica Sezamkowa, Polish version of the children's television series Sesame Street. * Zielona Ulica, village in Poland. *Places called Ulica ''(listed in Polish Wikipedia)'' * Ulica meant "street" ...

(Long Lane), where, together with ''Brama Wyżynna'' (Highland Gate) and ''Wieża Więzienna'' (Prison Tower), it forms a part of the old city fortifications.

Architecture

The present gate was designed by architect Abraham van den Blocke and built by Jan Strakowski. The architectural style of the gate is Dutch

Mannerism Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

. Next to it is the late-Gothic building of the Brotherhood of

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

. Both sides of the gate have

attique In classical architecture, the term attic refers to a storey or a parapet above the cornice of a classical façade. The decoration of the topmost part of a building was particularly important in ancient Greek architecture and this came to be see ...

s, with figures symbolizing the qualities of the ideal citizen. They were designed in 1648 by Jeremias Falck ("Polonus"), and reconstructed in 1878 due to the originals being damaged by weathering over time. From the west side they represent (in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

): ''Pax'' (Peace), ''Libertas'' (Freedom), ''Fortuna'' (Wealth) and ''Fama'' (Fame). From the east (Long Lane) side they are ''Concordia'' (Agreement), ''Iustitia'' (Justice), ''Pietas'' (Piety) and ''Prudentia'' (Prudency). The Latin inscription on the gates reads: ''Concordia res publicæ parvæ crescunt – discordia magnæ concidunt'' ("In agreement small republics grow, because of disagreement great republics fall"). The gate was damaged by Soviet shelling in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, but escaped destruction. It was repaired in 1957. An original German inscription on the gate was restored in the 1990s: ' ("They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces". –

Psalm 122 Psalm 122 is the 122nd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "I was glad" and in Latin entitled Laetatus sum. It is attributed to King David and one of the fifteen psalms described as A song of ascents ( ...

Gallery

File:Bartholomaeus Milwitz (?) - Wjazd Marii Ludwiki Gonzagi do Gdańska, po 1646.jpg, Entry of

Marie Louise Gonzaga Marie Louise Gonzaga (Italian: ''Maria Luisa'', , ; 18 August 1611 – 10 May 1667) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to two kings of Poland and grand dukes of Lithuania, brothers Władysław IV and John II Casi ...

Queen of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

, 1646. File:Złota brama w Gdańsku 1687 r.jpg, The ''Langgasser Tor'' in 1687, published by

Reinhold Curicke Reinhold Curicke (12 January 1610 – 2 April 1667) was a jurist and historian from Danzig (Gdańsk) who specialized in the history of the city Towns and city, cities have a long history, although opinions vary on which Ancient history, ancie ...

. File:Gdańsk, Brama Złota (HB1).jpg, The gate (right) and the seat of St. George's Brotherhood (left). File:Gdańsk 0100 16.jpg, Architectural detail of the gate, with gilded inscriptions.

References

External links

17th-century establishments in Poland 1614 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Buildings and structures completed in 1614 Buildings and structures in Gdańsk Gates in Poland Mannerist architecture in Poland Objects of cultural heritage in Poland Tourist attractions in Gdańsk Rebuilt buildings and structures in Gdańsk {{Poland-struct-stub