Gate chapel

Loccum Monastery , gate with gate chapel on the upper floor

A gate chapel is a church room on or in the gate building of a medieval fortified complex. Torkapellen there was at the monastery gates , castle entrances and gates . They were used for those arriving to rest and to thank God, for those who were leaving for a blessing. Their apotropaic meaning was older , similar to the representations of saints and emblems at the gate (which in turn often contained religious symbols): the attacking evil was to be banished .

Examples

• Klaus chapel in Goslar, Lower Saxony
• Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, Lithuania

literature

• Ulrich Stevens : Castle chapels in the German-speaking area . Cologne 1978

Web links

Commons : Gate Chapel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files