Entrance constructions of the medieval town of Sneporod

Excavations of the town of Sneporod mentioned in Russian chronicles have shown that its entrance of diagonal construction was rebuilt three times, but the principal details were preserved. First, the entrance construction is situated at 45° to the axis of the defensive walls; second, the entrance corridor is lined by two rows of massive frameworks filled with earth. The earliest entrance dating to the third quarter of the 11 th c. consisted of deep passageway set against the tower-like gate followed by a special pit crossed by a removable bridge which originally rested on poles. At the turn of the 12 th and 13 th cc. The pit was filled in, whiles the entrance construction was improved by a deep bending of the entrance corridor's south wall and supplied with a log tower of square plan. Similar entrance constructions are generally known from the Late Roman period, their early equivalents appeared in Rus' since the late 10 th c.