Attraction in Olsztyn

High Gate (Wysoka Brama)

The last of Olsztyn's three medieval gates and the most striking surviving piece of the old city walls.

Reviewed and updated July 2026

High Gate (Wysoka Brama) — Photo: Lesmad / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What the High Gate in Olsztyn is

Wysoka Brama, the High Gate, dates from the end of the 14th century and is the only survivor of the three gates that once pierced Olsztyn's defensive walls, the others being the Lower Gate and the Mill Gate. It is the most substantial remnant of the medieval fortifications.

The changing uses of Wysoka Brama

Across the centuries the gate has held very different roles, serving as an armoury and a prison and at one point sheltering the homeless. Today the building houses a hotel, a rare chance to stay inside a piece of the city walls.

Where to find the High Gate in the Old Town

The gate marks the traditional northern entrance to Olsztyn's Old Town and is an easy landmark to navigate by. It sits within a short walk of the market square, St James Co-Cathedral and the castle.

Frequently asked questions

It is the only one of Olsztyn's three medieval city gates still standing and the main surviving fragment of the old fortifications.

It dates from the end of the 14th century.

The building now houses a hotel, so interior access is tied to that use rather than open museum visiting.

More attractions in Olsztyn

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Co-Cathedral Basilica of St James in Olsztyn

A red-brick Gothic hall church at the centre of Olsztyn's Old Town, raised for a Latin greeting.

Olsztyn Old Town

A compact market square of gabled burgher houses, ringed by fragments of the medieval walls.

Copernicus Bench

A bronze bench monument in Olsztyn showing Nicolaus Copernicus seated with an astrolabe and a scroll, unveiled in 2003 near the castle where he once lived.

Railway Viaducts over the Łyna

A pair of monumental red-brick railway viaducts crossing the Łyna river valley in Olsztyn, the older dating from 1871-1872. Their tall arched spans and industrial architecture make them one of the valley's most photographed landmarks.

Castle Park (Podzamcze Park)

A landscaped riverside park below Olsztyn's Warmian Chapter Castle, set on the site of former water mills and revitalised in the late 2010s, near the neighbouring Central Park.

Museum of Modernity (Muzeum Nowoczesności)

A museum in a restored 1884 timber mill by the Łyna river, tracing how Olsztyn and the Warmia-Mazury region industrialised across the 19th and 20th centuries.