Strzelce Krajeńskie. Miasto i Gmina

The complex of medieval fortifications

Having been granted a charter, Strzelce was surrounded with defensive walls in 1272-1290. The walls included the Mill Gate (aka the Drezdenko Gate or the Eastern Gate) and (the Brzoza Gate) and a complex of half-shell towers. The walls were additionally surrounded with a double flood bank and moated with the waters of Lake Górne and Lake Dolne. The defensive walls were made of fieldstone and calcareous mortar and reached the height of 8-9 meters and thickness of 1.6 meters. Primarily, within the complex there were two gates- the Gorzów Gate, the Mill Gate and thirty-eight half-shell towers. In the modern period, one of the towers was rebuilt to serve as a gunpowder magazine beside which a firefighting wicket was made. The tower was called the Powder Tower. The fortifications were planted in 1730- nearby the Gorzów Tower a drill ground was created and in 1736 the embankments and the moat were changed into gardens. With the time, parts of the half-shell towers were adapted to serve as living quarters. Due to traffic problems and declining technical condition, the Gorzów Gate was pulled down in 1866. Until present times, a ring of walls is preserved to a length of 1640 meters and a diversified height of 3-8 meters with the Mill Gate, the Witches' Tower and 36 half-shell towers. After WWII, the renovation of the walls took place in several stages. Owing to its medieval fortifications, Strzelce Krajeńskie deserves to be called the lubuskie Carcasonne.