Porte de Paris, Medieval city gate in Cambrai, France

Porte de Paris is a medieval city gate in Cambrai featuring two curved towers with thick stone walls flanking a vaulted passage. The structure demonstrates the solid construction methods used to defend the town's entrance during the Middle Ages.

The gate was built in the 14th century to guard Cambrai's southern entrance. It was modified in the 16th century to address the growing threat of cannon fire.

The gate's name recalls the road to Paris, and it was the hardest entrance to attack, unlike the Porte Notre-Dame: Louis XIV himself entered Cambrai through Notre-Dame rather than risk the Porte de Paris. Inside, a two-room guardhouse with an open fireplace served the drawbridge, portcullis and a murder hole.

The gate invites close inspection of the engineering details, including marks from the old drawbridge system. Its central location makes it easy to visit while exploring the rest of the historic town.

The gate's upper section was levelled in the 16th century when Charles V adapted Cambrai's defences to artillery, and the upper guardhouse was buried; the 1892 restoration removed those additions and added the battlements and turrets seen today. The brick artillery terrace they replaced is gone.