City Walls & Barbican

The best way to enter the old town is through Floriańska Brama (Floriańska Gate). From here the key gate in the old city walls begins the Royal Way which leads through Floriańska Street, the Main Market Square, Grodzka Street to Wawel-Royal Castle. In front of the gate in the dry mote stands a unique monument – the oval shaped Barbican crowned with small pointed towers. From the two walls encompassing the old city fortified with towers and turrets which were raised by the end of the 13th century apart from the Floriańska gate there remain only three other towers linked by parts of the wall which hold wooden porches where guards used to be placed. Together with the Barbican they form a unique entity which can be best admired from the side of Planty. The rest of the fortification was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century and replaced by tree-lined greenery known as Planty.