Wałowa Gate in Stargard

The Wałowa Gate is one of the four medieval gates of Stargard. It stands in the north-eastern part of the fortifications, on Bolesława Chrobrego Street, at the exit towards Maszewo. Today it houses a municipal art gallery. Together with the Collegiate Church of St Mary and the remaining defensive walls it was designated a Historic Monument (pomnik historii) by a decree of the President of Poland of 17 September 2010.

History of the gate

The Wikipedia entry gives the year of construction as 1439, while other sources speak of 1430 or the 13th century, so the exact dating is uncertain. The gate had the most elaborate barbican in Stargard. The name comes from the earth ramparts (wały) thrown up in front of the outer walls of the town. In 1780 the barbican was demolished and its bricks were used to build a mill on the Ina. The upper part was added in the 16th century.

After the destruction of the Second World War the gate was completely rebuilt, including the Renaissance part in the upper section. According to the Wikipedia entry it is the only town gate in this region in the Renaissance style with relics of Gothic. After the war the rooms above the pointed-arch passage were occupied by, among others, a driver testing clinic.

What it looks like

The base has the shape of an irregular rectangle measuring 10 by 11 m, and the height of the structure is 19.4 m. From the outside the gate is supported by buttresses up to the height of the first floor. The roof is a gable roof with a ridge turret from the 17th century. The body is of brick, with blind arcades, and the gable is plastered. At the height of the first floor runs a band of curtain-type blind arcades, and the gables of the tower are decorated with pilasters, cornices and round-headed blind arcades with tympana and pine-cone finials. The passage is pointed-arched and a remnant of a weapon slit has survived in it.

The gallery in the gate

A municipal art gallery operates in the gate under the patronage of the Stargard Association of Friends of the Fine Arts “Brama”. Current exhibitions and opening hours should be checked before your visit with the town information office or the organiser.

Nearby

Right next to it, on a bend of the Ina, stands the Białogłówka Tower.

A few hundred metres further on rises the Collegiate Church of St Mary, Queen of the World.

Among other elements of the fortifications in the area is the Mill Gate.

Practical information

• Address: Bolesława Chrobrego 24, Stargard.
• The gate can be viewed from the outside at any time; the interior is open during the gallery's working hours.