The town walls

Gryfino was granted civic rights in the second half of the thirteenth century. The then rapid development of the town led to the decision of building the town's fortifications. First of them, built in 1284, were double ramparts made of wood and earth. Then, the construction of stone and brick fortifications was started, and was completed in the fifteenth century. At the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of sixteenth centuries, it was decided to strengthen the gate (foregates were added).

After the work was completed, the full line of Gryfino's fortifications consisted of 32 rectangular look-outs, which were slightly beyond the walls, with the space of 20 - 25 metres between each one; and one cylindrical tower. To the city led two gates – the Szczecin Gate, which was set from the north and the Bańska Gate that guarantees entrance from the south side. In addition, three water gates were built from the Oder's side. The safety of the town was also improved by the moat around the walls, water to which was taken from a nearby river. Gryfino's fortifications survived until the seventeenth century. In 1640, Swedish army destroyed the walls from the side of the Oder. The western part of the fortifications was totally destroyed by the floods that occurred in 1780 and 1830. At the end of the eighteenth century, it was decided to dismantle the foregate.

Today, only small fragments of walls with remnants of the look-outs on the south and north sides are preserved in Gryfino. At today's Bolesław Chrobry Street, we can find the only preserved Gothic gate - brama Bańska [the Bańska Gate] (formerly known as brama św. Jerzego [St George's Gate). At the end of the nineteenth century, the gate was close to being dismantled due to the expansion of the town. Because of the fact that the City Council declared it a monument in 1864, the building remained intact. In 1888 the building was renovated, and in 1979, during the next overhaul, the battlements of a gun terrace were reconstructed.

The south elevation of the Bańska Gate, just above the crossing, is decorated with ceramic blinds. In the northern elevation, there is an ogival blind above the crossing. In the western wall, there is a bay used as acting as a latrine - the so-called dansker. There, loopholes and semi-circular windows can also be found.

Gryfino's medieval fortifications were built of granite boulders that were cemented with clay-lime mortar. The boulders were arranged irregularly. Part of the walls formed from bricks was in monk bond.  On the south-east side, there is the longest part of the preserved medieval fortifications. It is about 70 metres long.