The Warsaw Barbican is a restored 16th-century defensive gateway connecting the Old Town to the New Town. Like everything else in central Warsaw, it was destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s. The Barbican now serves as a pedestrian passage and an open-air gallery where street artists and portrait painters set up stalls in summer. The views from the top of the ramparts — looking south over the rooftops of the Old Town — are worth the climb.
The surrounding stretch of the medieval city walls has also been partially restored, giving a clear sense of how the original fortified town was laid out. Beyond the Barbican to the north lies the New Town (Nowe Miasto), which pre-dates the Old Town by a few decades and has a quieter, more residential atmosphere.