Porte de la Craffe, Medieval city gate in Old Town Nancy, France
The Porte de la Craffe is a city gate in Old Town Nancy featuring a central square tower flanked by two taller round towers constructed from red brick and stone. The structure includes pointed arches and was designed to control access to the medieval settlement.
Built in the 14th century as the northern entrance to Nancy, the gate later served as a prison until the mid-19th century. This change in purpose shows how the structure adapted to serve different needs as the city evolved.
The inner side displays carved stone reliefs showing the helmeted heads of the Dukes of Lorraine, Raoul and Jean, alongside a statue of the Virgin and Child from the 14th century. These depictions reflect how deeply the city identified with its past rulers.
The gate stands at the end of Grande Rue and connects the historic district to modern Nancy through its central pointed arch. Visitors can walk through and view it from both sides to fully appreciate the structure.
The fortress walls of this gate reach three meters in thickness and feature defensive elements such as machicolations along with four helmeted heads carved in relief. These robust qualities reveal that the structure served real protective purposes beyond decoration.
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