A carved oak gate greets everyone walking towards the convent. It commemorates the canonisation and stands as a sign of Polish–Hungarian friendship.
Kinga was a Hungarian princess, the daughter of Béla IV. Small wonder, then, that when John Paul II proclaimed her a saint in 1999, guests came from Hungary bearing a gift. Hungarian highlanders presented the town with a gate made in the traditional Székely technique. Gates like this have been raised for generations in Transylvania, in the land of the Székelys.
The gate is made of oak and is about 5 m high and 3 m wide. It is adorned with images of St Kinga and St Hedwig. Following the Székely custom of hospitality, it always stands open. Carved on it are the words: “Peace to those who enter, blessings to those who leave”.
It is a young monument, but full of the old spirit. It stands at the entrance to St Kinga’s Square, and behind it rise the convent walls, raised in 1598–1632 and fitted with loopholes. The old fortress of prayer now welcomes guests with an open gate. Pause before it for a moment, take a close look at the woodcarving, and only then walk on to St Kinga’s Square, towards the convent walls.
photo John Samuel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
