Mdina Gate description and photos - Malta: Mdina (Topic)

Mdina Gate description and photos - Malta: Mdina. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The name in English is Mdina Gate.

Photo and description

You can enter the territory of Mdina through three gates: City, Greek and New City, created in the 20th century by local residents to shorten the road to the bus station in Rabat, a suburb of Mdina.

Only slaves used the Greek gate in the Middle Ages. Now local residents' cars are passing through them. All tourists enter Mdina through the City Gate, also called the Main or Vilena Gate. They were built in the Baroque style in 1724 by the design of the chief architect of Mdina, the Frenchman Charles Francois de Mondion, who worked on many palaces in the city. The construction was sponsored by Grand Master Antoine Manuel de Vilena. We can see his coat of arms on the outer facade of the gate. This gate appeared on the site of a medieval building with a drawbridge. Due to the construction of the residence for Vilena, the entrance gate had to be moved to the left a few meters. Such interference in the fortification system of the city forced the architect to remake the medieval fortifications adjacent to the gate. The old tower of Turri Mastra was replaced by the Torre della Standardto. The Mda Main Gate is depicted on a commemorative silver 2 Maltese lira coin minted in 1973. They, along with the neighboring Torre of the Standardto case, could also be seen on the 5 Maltese lira note circulated in 1989-2007.

In 2008, the gate was repaired by the Department of Road Maintenance. Currently, the City Gate is one of the main tourist attractions in Mdina. An attentive viewer who has watched the series "Game of Thrones" recognizes this gate in the third episode of the first season, where it is introduced as part of Lord Snow's castle.

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Topic: Mdina Gate description and photos - Malta: Mdina.