The Town Fortification can be visited
Town FortificationGmünd in Kärnten
Gmünd Town Fortification
The medieval city fortifications in Gmünd in Carinthia, dating back to the 13th century, are still largely preserved. A Zwinger (outer bailey) ran around the entire city wall.
The defensive complex forms a walled quadrangle, within which the old town was protected and is preserved today. The eastern wall runs from the Old Castle southwards down to the Upper Gate and the adjacent New Castle, which forms the southeast corner of the city fortifications. From here, the wall runs along the castle to the fire station building from 1899. From there, a continuous section of the wall is preserved up to the Pankrazitor. The western section of the south wall forms an acute angle with the southern section of the west wall. The west wall continues past the Lower Gate to just before the rectory, which stands in the northwest corner of the fortification. The medieval north wall with the old Maltator ran approximately along today's Kirchgasse. The area of the rectory, the church, and the adjoining rows of houses originally formed the forefield between the old north wall and the Maltazwinger. The newer (Renaissance) north wall north of the church, from the rectory to the New Maltator, was built at the beginning of the 16th century under Leonhard von Keutschach. The former battlement burned down in 1792.
The Gatehouses+
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Upper Gate
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Pankrazitor
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Lower Gate
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Maltator
Upper Gate
The Upper Gate, with two cross-rib vaulted passages, was renovated in 1615. It opens towards the Katschtal valley.
Pankrazitor
The Pankrazitor was originally built in 1271. The two and three-story gatehouse has a barrel vault with lunettes in the passage. On the outside, a Habsburg coat of arms and the year 1488 can be seen.
Lower Gate
The Lower Gate is a four-story gate tower with a barrel-vaulted passage from the early 16th century. The curved gable and the roof turret with an onion dome were added at the end of the 17th century. During the restoration in 1987, the early Baroque exterior appearance was restored. On the western outer wall are embedded the white marble coat of arms stones of August and Christoph Reinhold from 1555 and the coat of arms stone of Johannes Weitmoser from 1521. The rooms are used for a local history museum and annually changing art exhibitions.
New Maltator
The Maltator, restored in 1504 after damage in the Turkish Wars, is two-story on the city's exterior with a hipped roof and a boarded gable. The ground floor rooms have groin vaults from the 18th century. In 1993, it was restored and converted into an 'Artist's House'. From April to October, the house is made available to an international guest artist as a studio.
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Source: Wikipedia · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image: http://www.wehrbauten.at/ktn/kaernten.html
This description draws on the facts documented in the linked Wikipedia article; Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Wording and editing: Mobile History.
Location: 46.9082, 13.5351