Welcome within the walls of Nógrád Castle!
The entrance to the castle was protected by a double gate: the outer gate still has its ornate frame with the opening for the portcullis and the places for the door hinges at the beginning of the arches, while of the second gate, which was once a gate tower, only the side walls are visible, as its arch and upper floor collapsed. Between the two gates, there was almost certainly a so-called wolf pit, which is a deep trench with sharpened stakes at the bottom, and which could only be crossed via a drawbridge lowered from the gate tower.
On the outer gate, you can observe two differently sized openings: the smaller pedestrian gate and the larger equestrian gate. The equestrian gate was kept closed, the pedestrian gate served as the primary route of passage, and the equestrian gate was only opened if an order was given to let riders or wagons in.
The weakest point of every castle is its entrance, the gatehouse. To effectively withstand sieges and assaults, it must be made highly defensible through careful planning. In the case of Nógrád, even if the enemy had breached the outer gate, in addition to the wolf pit, a narrow wall passage awaited the attackers, where the enemy could be harmed from above from three directions.
Entering the former site of the inner gate, to your left, you will see the semicircular defensive structure protecting the inner castle, which we call a barbican. We will return here soon. To your right, the wall runs straight from the gate to the New Bastion. We will continue up there!