Porte de la Craffe, Medieval city gate in Old Town Nancy, France

The Porte de la Craffe is a gate in Nancy's old town, with a central square tower pierced by a pointed arch and flanked by two taller round towers. Its walls of ashlar stone with red brick at the base are three metres thick. Above the arch, a carved pointed arch holds a cross, and a row of corbels runs beneath the slate roof.

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 two round towers added in 1463 held about ten strongrooms used as a prison until the mid-19th century; in the 20th century these rooms became a museum displaying instruments of torture. An outside staircase beside the west tower leads to the terrace over the vaulted passage, where a square red-brick watchtower hidden from the street comes into view.