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Gate of GondorThe Great Gate of Minas Tirith![]() The main Gate of Gondor, or Great Gate of Minas Tirith, opened eastward through the outer wall of the city of Minas Tirith. The main Gate of Gondor, or Great Gate of Minas Tirith, opened eastward through the outer wall of the city of Minas Tirith. The main Gate of the city of Minas Tirith, in the lowest circle of the City, which opened outward from the easternmost point in that circle. It was more commonly called the Great Gate of Minas Tirith, but during the last millennium of the Third Age, Minas Tirith had become the City of Gondor, and so its Gate became the Gate of Gondor.1 The Gate was made in the early history of the realm, and consisted of doors cunningly crafted of iron mounted on posts of steel. It was at least wide enough for two wagons to pass through it side by side. Outside the Gate, three roads met. Northward and eastward from the Gate ran a broad way that led to Osgiliath on Anduin, the old capital of Gondor. Another road turned northward, leading around the skirts of the White Mountains toward Rohan and the northern lands beyond. The third turned southward, running toward the harbour city of Pelargir, and then on westward through the southern fiefs of Gondor. To a traveller approaching the Gate along one of these roads, if the Gate were shut,2 its iron doors would roll open3 to admit them into the City. Passing through the Gate, such a traveller would find themselves in a wide courtyard, at the far end of which a sheer rockface rose upward: the 'keel' of the City that ran up to its highest level. From the sides of this courtyard, streets and alleys ran in all directions, including a broad way known as Rath Celerdain, the Lampwrights' Street. The Second Gate of the city was not in line with the main Gate of Gondor, so if a traveller wished to pass beyond the first circle, they would need to turn left (that is, southwards) and follow the inner wall for some distance before finding the Gate in that wall that led into Minas Tirith's second tier. The Gate of Gondor in the War of the RingBy March of III 3019, it was clear that Sauron would soon launch an attack against Gondor. Defenders were called to Minas Tirith, which would be the Dark Lord's immediate target, and many of the citizens of Gondor also sought shelter behind the City's walls. Faramir and his Rangers had been attempting to hold the enemy at Osgiliath, but were driven back by the Nazgûl and made a desperate ride to reach the Gate and escape into the City. With help from Gandalf and Imrahil, they succeeded, although Faramir was left badly wounded. Finally, riders from the northern Rammas Echor, the outer wall of the Pelennor, passed through the Gate before it was shut against the coming Siege. The besieging forces emerged from Osgiliath and filed onto the Pelennor Fields before the Gate. On 15 March, fighting broke out in earnest around the Gate, and at first the Men of Gondor were able to repel the enemy. The armies of Sauron then brought up an immense steel-headed battering ram, given the name Grond, which they wheeled to the Gate of the City. Swung with the strength of Trolls, and wound about with ruinous sorcery, the iron doors of the Gate could not hope to withstand this ram. They survived two of its mighty strokes, but on the third,4 a bolt of lightning was released, and the ancient Gate of Minas Tirith broke into shards. The Lord of the Nazgûl, who was leading Sauron's attack, rode through the broken gate to find the Wizard Gandalf awaiting him, all other defenders having fled in fear. Before these two beings could clash, however, events conspired to draw them both away: Gandalf to attend to the madness of Denethor high above, and the Witch-king to deal with a new threat, the unforeseen arrival of the Rohirrim onto the battlefield. Thus the Gondorians were able to hold the courtyard behind the Gate, though the Gate itself had been shattered into fragments. Under Prince Imrahil, indeed, the Men of Gondor were able to mount a sortie through the broken gateway to support the Rohirrim, and shortly afterward Aragorn drew into the docks of the nearby Harlond with vessels filled with further reinforcements. Thus, despite the breaking of the Gate of Gondor, the Gondorians and their allies were able to win the day and drive the enemy from Minas Tirith's walls. After the WarAfter the victory at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the War of the Ring came to its end with the destruction of the One Ring and the defeat of Sauron. Though Gondor's enemies had been defeated, it was not a simple matter to replace the ancient iron gate, and in the immediate aftermath of the War, a simple barrier was erected in its place. It would be some time5 before the City of Gondor received a new Great Gate worthy of that name. After the War, the Dwarf Gimli brought many of his people south to settle at Aglarond in the White Mountains, and the craftsmen of these Dwarves constructed a new Gate of Gondor. This new Gate was wrought from mithril and steel,6 and it guarded the city of Minas Tirith into the Fourth Age. Notes
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