THE 5TH GATE OF THE ALBA CAROLINA CITADEL

THE 6TH GATE OF THE ALBA CAROLINA CITADEL
October 24, 2017
THE 4TH GATE OF THE ALBA CAROLINA CITADEL
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The 5th gate of the Citadel is one of the secondary entries placed on the western side of the fortification. In the 18th and 19th centuries it had a utilitarian purpose: it ensured the exit of the soldiers towards the training field placed in the present Roman’s Plateau area.

The architecture of the gate is a simple one. The monument is shaped as a 15 meters long vaulted tunnel that ensured the link between Saint Michael ravelin and the third line of defence of the fortification, named counterguard. Through here entered the king Ferdinand and the Queen Maria in 1919 when the sovereigns of Romania visited the city of the Great Union.

Shortly after that, when the Crowning Cathedral was built, Saint Michael ravelin was partially demolished. Instead of the demolished walls, a large opening was made, so since the western gates were no longer necessary, they were closed.

The 5th gate was blocked by means of a brick wall and it was not part of the visitable objectives in Alba Iulia for several decades. The present form of the gate is the result of a restoration project that made it as it used to be. From 2011 it was given back to the touristic circuit. Nowadays,  the gate makes possible the access inside the citadel from west and it is part of the most visited touristic circuit, „the Gates of the Citadel”, that cuts the fortification from east to west.

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