In the Middle Ages Cracow had a marvellous system of fortification. The city was surrounded by walls with many towers, just as the Planty ring which replaced the was encircles today's Old Town.
Every craft guild had its own armour and was responsible for providing the men at arms for one tower if there were a need to defend the city. Also, at the the end of the streets coming out of the Main Market Square, there were gates. Walls, as in Nuremberg, were double. A deep moat filled with water ran around the higher external walls.

Fortications of the Old Town were spread in the area of present park so called Planty. It consisted of 8 gates linked together with a system 2 meters thick and 10 meters high walls. There were 39 turrets and watchtowers in, but only 3 of them (Pasamonikow, Stolarska, Ciesielska) were preserved. Most of the fortifications were taken down in the early 19th century as a part of plan "to open the city to the world".