Ploče Gate, Dubrovnik: The Eastern Entrance to the Walled Old Town
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Croatia
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Republic of Ragusa
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Gate
On this page6 sections
History
A medieval entrance
Ploče Gate is the eastern entrance to Dubrovnik’s walled Old Town in Croatia and, after Pile Gate, one of the city’s two principal entrances. It leads toward the Ploče suburb, which gave the gate its name, and its present form is associated with construction around 1450 by Simon della Cava, a builder connected with Dubrovnik’s fortifications. The gate was formerly known as Saint Luke’s Gate after a nearby church. Caravans from the Orient entered Dubrovnik through this gateway, making it part of the city’s connection with long-distance trade routes.
The complex was modeled on Pile Gate and included inner and outer entrances linked by bridges. A stone bridge before Ploče Gate was built in 1449, following the model of the earlier bridge at Pile Gate. In 1462, Revelin Fortress was built northeast of the city to protect the entrance, and a bridge connected the fortress with Ploče Gate.
Nineteenth-century alterations
During the nineteenth-century Austrian occupation, the inner entrance was widened by cutting an additional passage that was much broader than the original opening. The gate complex was also expanded and made wider during the nineteenth century, changing the proportions of an entrance that had previously been especially narrow.
Remains
Bridge and outer approach
Ploče Gate stands at the northeastern corner of Dubrovnik’s city walls, near Saint Luke’s Tower. A one-span stone bridge crosses the moat before the gate and includes a partly lifting wooden section, forming a drawbridge, a bridge designed to be raised as part of a defensive entrance. The complex contains both an outer gate and an inner gate. From the outer entrance, the passage runs alongside the wall of Revelin Fortress and beside Arms Square, a small square.
Inner gate and tower
The inner gate is built in the Romanesque style, a medieval European style known for heavy masonry, rounded arches, and solid forms. A Romanesque bust of Saint Blaise survives on its tympanum, the framed surface above a doorway, while another representation of Saint Blaise is positioned above the entrance. Saint Blaise is Dubrovnik’s patron saint and a central figure in the city’s religious identity. Before the nineteenth-century widening, the inner passage measured less than 2 metres across and was the narrowest of Dubrovnik’s gates. The Asimon Tower rises above the inner gate.
