Digging work following a water pipe accident on Jerichova Street uncovered the remains of the Malženická Gate in Trnava. (source: TASR)
The last blank spot on the map of the gates of the mediaeval fortification of Trnava was finally filled by archaeologists last week.
Digging work following a water pipe accident on Jerichova Street uncovered the remains of the Malženická Gate, the exact location of which was not known until now, according to Erik Hrnčiarik, Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Trnava.
Having noticed masonry, further excavation was carried out, revealing a unique stone wall.
"We came across the foundations of the Malženická Gate, which is the only one that has not been fully explored so far," he told the TASR news agency.
Built in the Middle Ages along with the walls of the town's fortifications, it was walled up at the beginning of the modern age at the latest.
The mediaeval walls of Trnava used to have four gates. Last year, extensive research was carried out on the Lower Gate on the current SNP Square, while the remains of the Upper Gate on Štefániková Street were also examined. A little further to the east of them was Lovčická Gate, currently situated between the wall of the amphitheatre and a shopping centre. On the opposite side of the city is the Malženická Gate, both of which are named after villages near Trnava.
According to Hrnčiarik, the Malženická gate, which was roughly eight metres wide, had standard functions like the other three, and it is thought that it had a drawbridge.
The important Czech trade route entered Trnava through it from the side of the Záhorie region from Prague, and through Lovčická it exited the city towards the ford over the Váh in Sereď ending in Budín. According to Hrnčiarik, after the Malženická and Lovčická gates were walled up, the Česká cesta was redirected to the Upper and Lower gates.
Hrnčiarik said the discovery of the Malženická Gate provided an important insight into the history of Trnava.
