Moravian Gate

The Moravian Gate (Czech: Moravská brána, Polish: Brama Morawska, German: Mährische Pforte, Slovak: Moravská brána) is a geomorphological feature in the Moravian region of the Czech Republic and the Upper Silesia region in Poland.

It stretches from Moravia towards Czech Silesia north-eastward in the length of about 50 km (31 mi)[1] and is bordered by the confluence of the Olza and the Odra (Oder) rivers in the north.

[1] Because of its low altitude, the Moravian Gate has since ancient times been a natural pass between the Sudetes (Oderské vrchy range) in the northwest and the Western Carpathians (Moravian-Silesian Beskids) in the southeast.

Today the D1 highway leads from the Moravian capital Brno to Ostrava, the centre of the Moravian-Silesian Region.

Further to the north the road reaches the border with Poland near the town of Racibórz and Wodzisław Śląski.

View from Starý Jičín over the Moravian Gate to the Oderské vrchy mountains
Moravian Gate on a geomorphical map of the Czech Republic