The Gdańska Głowa Watergate was constructed on the Szkarpawa River in 1895, a part of the Vistula River engineering works. It allows sailing on the Szkarpawa and, at the same time, protects Żuławy from flooding.
Formerly, next to the Watergate, there was a famous fortress that was the target of countless attacks, as whoever controlled this place governed commercial traffic from Poland to Gdańsk and Elbląg.
Gdańska Głowa Lock, photo: Pomorskie Travel
The fortress
The fortress was constructed on the cape between the Wisła Gdańska and Szkarpawa and it played the strategic role of a post defending Gdańsk. The fortress had existed here in the 16th and 17th Centuries.
By the end of the 17th Century (after the Peace of Oliwa) it was destroyed and its remains finally disappeared during the works on the Przekop Wisły. Today there is farmland on this site.
Gdańska Głowa Lock, photo: Pomorskie.travel
Gdańska Głowa
Gdańska Głowa is the name of the lock built in 1895 on Szkarpawa, whose main task is to cut off the river from the main current of the Vistula while maintaining its sailing functions. Gdańska Głowa is a single-chamber lock with a concrete structure, faced with clinker bricks. It is 61 m long, 12.5 m wide, and the maximum locking height is 3 m. There are additional flood gates and a swing bridge on the Vistula side.
