In the early 16th century, as Tatar raids grew more frequent and relations with Muscovy worsened, Alexander Jagiellon ordered the people of Vilnius in 1503 to build a defensive wall around the city. It was completed in 1522. The strategic road to Vitebsk, Polotsk, Smolensk and Moscow ran through the Subačius Gate, so danger was expected from the east and southeast, and this part of the city was fortified with particular care. The gate projected out from the line of the wall, which made it possible to fire on attackers both from the front and from the side. Unlike the city’s other gates, its upper part had two rows of loopholes for hand-held gunpowder firearms, and an artillery tower stood nearby. In the mid-17th century, a bastion with about 24 cannons was built around it.
The origin of the name is unclear. A popular legend says it comes from the Russian word for "dog” (sobaka), because the assistants of the city executioner, who lived in the gate, rounded up stray dogs. However, the executioner’s quarters in the gate are first mentioned only in 1669, so a more likely explanation is that the gate was named after the owner of a neighbouring estate. Even so, an executioner really did live here: in the late 17th century the gate housed his quarters, and in the 18th century a city prison was set up there. The tower also had heated living quarters, so it was more than just a fortress.
The gate no longer exists. In 1799, the tsarist authorities decided to demolish the city wall and gate towers, ordering that the work begin with the Subačius Gate. Demolition started in 1801, and in September 1802 it was officially recorded that the gate had been completely taken down. It yielded 48,000 intact bricks. Archaeologists later found only the lower part of the north-eastern corner and remnants of the foundations. Today you can see part of the gate’s southern wall, with one loophole and a socket for the beam that was used to bar the gate at night. It is a good place to stop and imagine what this mighty defensive tower once looked like.
