
A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by
walls. The word derived from old Norse "gat" meaning
road or
path; But other terms include ''
yett and
port''. The concept originally referred to the gap or hole in the wall or fence, rather than a
barrier 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", as they are fixed at one side whilst opening and closing like one.
A gate may have a
latch 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 ...
or
fortified town. Actual doors can also be considered gates when they are used to block entry as prevalent within a
gatehouse. 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 gatehouse
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
See also
*
Barricade
Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denot ...
*
Boom barrier (a.k.a. boom gate)
*
Border
*
Gate tower
*
Gopuram
*
Leave the gate as you found it
Leave the gate as you found it (or leave all gates as found) is an important rule of courtesy in rural areas throughout the world. If a gate is found open, it should be left open, and if it is closed, it should be left closed. If a closed gate ab ...
*
Portal (architecture)
A portal is an opening in a wall of a building, gate or fortification, especially a grand entrance to an important structure. Doors, metal gates, or portcullis in the opening can be used to control entry or exit. The surface surrounding the ope ...
*
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 ...
*
Threshold (disambiguation)
Threshold may refer to:
Architecture
* Threshold (door), the sill of a door
Media
* ''Threshold'' (1981 film)
* ''Threshold'' (TV series), an American science fiction drama series produced during 2005-2006
* "Threshold" (''Stargate SG-1''), ...
*
Triumphal arch
*
List of scandals with "-gate" suffix
*
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 ...
, as used in politics
References
External links
{{Authority control
Doors
Fortification (architectural elements)
Garden features