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  • Day 7

    Brama Klasztorna (Monastery Gate)

    September 14, 2019 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F

    https://www.torun.pl/pl/turystyka/zwiedzanie-mi…
    Monastery Gate, also called the Gate of St. Spirit, was built in the fourteenth century as one of the four gates leading to the city from the side of the Vistula port. Despite minor modifications, the gate has kept the original form of a Gothic gate tower with three pointed arches.

    The outside hid a wooden harrow, lowered in the event of a siege. Behind the central one there is an empty space through which the defenders seated at the top of the gate dropped heavy objects or poured hot liquids. Most often it was boiling, long-keeping and mercilessly stinging porridge, from which the hole useful in combat was called a porridge. The third recess covers the wooden gates, once closed at dusk and opened at dawn, additionally reinforced with metal elements.

    The name of the gate refers to the medieval Benedictine monastery once located on the waterfront with the church of St. Spirit, demolished during the Swedish invasion of the mid XVII century. According to an old legend, there used to be a good nun named Katarzyna, who during the famine found barrels with gingerbread dough in the monastery underground. The gingerbread made from it saved the lives of thousands of Toruń residents, and the nun herself brought universal recognition and fame - her name was given to the most popular Toruń delicacies reminiscent of six connected wheels - Catherine.

    The place of the former monastery is now occupied by a high building of old Prussian barracks from the first half XIX century. In the interwar period it housed the first Polish Naval Officers' School. Today, its existence and maritime traditions are reminded of a powerful anchor located on the boulevard between the Monastery Gate and the Vistula.

    The road bridge named after Marshal Józef Piłsudski was opened in 1934. It was erected from the elements of the dismantled Prussian bridge previously located in the vicinity of Kwidzyn. Its design looks particularly attractive at night thanks to the specially installed illumination.
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