Trenčín Lower Gate (Turkish Gate)
Building, structure
"Only one of the two gates of the city's defenses remains today. In the 1970s, another tower was built between the small and large county hall, with a gate at the bottom of it - exactly the same shape as the tower next to the existing city hall. (Hence the name lower and upper gate). These two were connected by a defensive wall and could be completely closed." ; The late Gothic building, built at the beginning of the 15th century, originally had two floors. After the siege of 1528 led by the Habsburg general Johann von Katzianer, it was rebuilt, with an additional floor and a tower. Due to the Turkish threat, it underwent further transformations at the end of the 16th century. ; The tower generally acquired its current form in the first quarter of the 17th century. ; “The city’s coat of arms is decorated on its tower. (This one is a lamb looking to the right, holding a flag in its hand. The same can be seen on the large tower next to the town hall and on the parish tower. This coat of arms suggests to the researcher that under Andrew II. Trenčín gained its freedoms and was elevated to a royal city - it is true that its charter has been lost, but since a lamb only appears on King Andrew’s money, it can be assumed that its coat of arms dates from this period.)”; According to the Latin biblical quote on the building, “Unless the LORD guards the city, the guards keep watch in vain” (Psalm 127:1 11.).