The Upper Gate in Olsztyn - Upper Gate, High Gate) since the 19th century called the High Gate was built in the 14th century. It is the only gate remaining of the three that were locatedwere in the defensive walls surrounding the city. Remnants of the medieval fortification also remain from the walls at the St. Jacob's Cathedral Basilica, Asnyka Street, Okopowa Street and the castle. The gate is located in the northeastern part of the Old Town complex, on the axis of the outlet of the main traffic route. In 1788 the High Gate was repaired and adapted into an armory for a squadron of dragoons, in 1858 it was converted into a prison, and in 1898 it was handed over to the city police station. Many alterations were made to it (including giving a different shape to the window openings and the top of the building, and piercing the pedestrian passage). The gate is four-storied, with a storey forming a kind of fifth storey in the gable area; gable roof; stepped gables; on the eastern side, a lower, also four-storied annex covered with a separate gable roof perpendicular to the ridge of the main body. In 2003 the gate was restored. An image of Our Lady Queen of Peace, donated to Olsztyn by Pope John Paul II, appeared in its blende. The artwork was made using the glass mosaic technique in a Roman workshop. The walls of the High Gate also host a bronze head of John Paul II, dedicated on the first anniversary of the Pope's death.
06.07.2013
