Walk in Wroc³aw: Market Square and ¦widnicka Street
¦widnicka street and a draft of the gate / Maciej Swierczynski / Agencja Gazeta
Brama ¦widnicka (¦widnicka Gate)
During the Middle Ages Wroclaw was a fortress and it was secured by two lines of walls, then ¦widnicka Gate was one of the main gates to the city. It led south to ¦widnica. In fact, there were two gates: the older one, on the interior line, built in the second half of the 13th century, had the form of a tower and was square-based; the newer one, on the exterior line, was built at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. Later it was rebuilt a number of times until the 17th century along with all system of fortification. The fifth version of the gate, from 1693, was a triumphal arch with Wroclaw's coat of arms above the entrance. It was rebuilt again in the middle of the 18th century but after Napoleon's siege of Wroclaw the victorious French leader ordered the city walls to be demolished and ¦widnicka Gate stopped existing. What is preserved until today is the guardroom which was built during the 18th century renovation. It was redesigned in 1844 in Neo-Renaissance Florence style and kept its military character as it housed the General Police Chief Office. Nowadays the guardroom has become a little art gallery.