Barbican
The Barbakan—built as a Gothic fortified outpost in 1498—is one of the best-preserved surviving defenses of Kraków’s royal city. Conceived as a gateway into the Old Town, it was originally linked to the city walls by a covered passageway that led through St. Florian’s Gate, acting as a checkpoint for those entering. Built around 1498, this moated cylindrical brick structure is 24.4 meters wide inside its courtyard, and it is crowned with seven turrets. Its defenses were equally formidable: the walls are 3 meters thick and pierced by 130 embrasures. Kraków’s leadership strengthened fortifications during the 1485–1503 Polish–Ottoman War, driven by fear of Ottoman and Tatar raids after earlier defeats of King John I Albert. In spring 1498, invaders moved through the region—an escalation that pushed the city to add works like the Barbakan. …
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