Built about the year 1300, its present shape is the result of baroque reconstructions in 1758, when the statue of St. Michael and the Dragon was placed on its top.

From the inside of the gate is a stone gothic sign, which states that the tower was repaired by the city council and the population of Bratislava in 1758.

Michael's Gate was the centerpiece of a larger fortification system which included two rings of city walls, two bastions, a barbican and a falling bridge over the water moat.

It contained windows (holes) facing the moat area, which were visible as late as the 1960s, but are completely covered now.

Today, there is a museum of the medieval fortifications of Bratislava (Pressburg, Pozsony), and arms located in the tower.

Museum exhibits cover the town's fortification beginnings, reconstructions and their final destruction in the 18th century as the fortified walls were preventing the city's growth.