With its pinnacled roof and elaborate decorative stonework, the Green Gate hardly
resembles the usual city gate – it is more like a mansion. There is good reason
for this, because the gate was intended to serve as a residence for visiting
royalty. In the event it was used in this way only once – when Maria Louisa
Gonzaga arrived in Gdańsk from France in order to marry Władysław IV in
1646.

The gate was designed in the Mannerist style by the architect Johann Kramer from
Dresden, and built in 1564–8 by Regnier from Amsterdam. Its windows provide a
magnificent view of Ulica Długi Targ and the town hall in one direction, and the
River Motława and Spichlerze Island in the other.