Gates of Pile, Dubrovnik

The Pile Gate is the main entrance to Dubrovnik old city. It is a gate between the high walls with a bridge and stairs that will take you into the city. Expect it to be always very crowded with lots of tourists and many vendors who will try to give you flyers and offer you apartments, restaurants, bars and theatres or just about anything. It is certainly feels here like the “stock market” of Dubrovnik tourist business.

The Pile Gate has been the main entrance to the city for centuries. The gate got its present shape in 1537 when the outer semi-circular tower with a Renaissance arch was erected. The approach to the gate is over a stone bridge and a wooden drawbridge suspended by chains. The bridge spanned the protective moat which was dug along with the city walls.

The entrance to the old town with the fortress is something to behold. Above the rampart arch entryway is the tribute to the religious following of Saint Blaise, but I don't believe the christian saying of "turn the other cheek" when you look a little higher and see the large cannon in the opening above the statue of the saint.
I guess you have to look at it in a different light. The people of the town pray to the saint to protect them and then try to help the saint out, by having the cannon for support.

This is the main entrance to the old town, it is near here where the buses stop. The stone bridge is from 1537 & it crosses a moat which is now a garden. Above the arched entrance is a small statue of St Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik.

The Pile Gate on the west side of the city walls is the main entrance to the old town of Dubrovnik (Ploce gate on the northern side is the other entrance).

Entering the the gate, you’ll see the second rampart built against the attacks from land. Finally, going through the second gate, you’ll enter the old town.

The very old Gate of Pile (in the picture) leads to the inner (Old) town of Dubrovnik.

Built on the site of the former Pile fortress in the part of the city known as Pile, this westernmost gate to the Old Town is its busiest port of entry, largely because buses from the city and ferry terminals deposit their passengers here.

A stone bridge leads to the outer gate. The outer Pile Gate was guarded from 1537 on, so the city could monitor trade in and out of the city. The wooden drawbridge leading to it was pulled up at night in an elaborate ceremony. Now, during summer, honorary guards in period costume stand guard mornings as tourists shuffle in for a day of sightseeing. However, the moat has long since been drained and is now just a green space. The interior gate was built in the 15th century and it, too, has its statue of St. Blaise--this one done by the prolific 20th-century Croatian sculptor Ivan Mestrovic.

The place is like a medieval set. No shortage of views of the walls, fortress and turrets while you circumnavigate the town

At the city gate- Pile- near Bokar fortress and thru to Onofrios Fountain piazza you can find the steps to ascend the city walls just on your left as you enter under the city archway of Pile gate
As you enter look up and you would see the patron St Blasius emblazoned in stone just above the portal across the wooden drawbridge. Minceta Tower rises to your left and Bokar Fortress to your right.

Ploce Gate, sometimes called " St. Luke's Gate", after the neighbouring church, consists of two separate gates. The inside gate is comparatively small, two metres wide. It was constructed in the Romanesque style. The Asimov Tower rises just above its entrance. Next to this gate there is another one, new, much bigger, built during the Austrian occupation at the end of the last century. The outside gate was build by Simeon della Cava in 1450 and widened at the end of the 19th century. In front of it is a single-spanned stone bridge constructed in 1449 according to the one standing in front of the Pile Gate. By crossing it you reaches the Revelin Fort.