Walls of The Barbican surround the Old City. The oldest part of Warsaw is Stare Miasto, or Old City, located on the west bank of the Vistula River north of the Marszalkowska district. The Old City was surrounded by a wall, much of which still stands on the right side of Podwale Street. The Barbican is a semicircular stronghold with Gothic towers and a terrace surrounded by a Renaissance parapet, which rises on a bridge over a ditch. It was built in 1548 and was designed by Jan Baptysta, a Venetian architect who worked in Warsaw. Partially demolished in the XIX century together with other city gates, it has been rebuilt after the war.