桜田門。
一般的にこの門を桜田門と呼んでいるが正確には外桜田門であり、現在桔梗門と呼ばれているのが内桜田門になる。
正面に見えるのが「高麗門」で、この門に対して直角に配置してるのが「渡櫓門」である。
外敵が侵入しても直進する事は出来ず、必ず直角に曲がる事になって、その間に防御態勢を固めたり攻撃したり出来る構造だ。
あくまでも個人的な感想だが現存してる門のなかでは桜田門がいちばん優美で美しい。

■Sotosakurada-mon Gate of Edo Castle
Curently called Sakurada-mon, this gate is officially named Sotosakurada-mon, soto meaning “outer” as opposed to the
“Uchisakurada-mon or “inner” Gate(Kikyo Gate)” near the citadel. These gates were named Sakurada-mon because the area was
called Sakurada-go(town) in the past.
The Sotosakurada-mon Gate has a dual structure consisting of the Korai Gate on the outside and the Watariyagura Gate on the
inside with a square in-between.
It covers an exceptionally large area (approx.1,056m2) as a highly defensive castle gate for the Nishinomaru (west compound).
The Sotosakurada-mon Gate was originally built in the Kanei era (1624 to1644), while the existing gate is based on a gate
reconstructed in 1663. The gate was damaged by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and repaired it.
On March 3, 1860, the Japanese Chief Minister Tairo Ii Naosuke was assassinated by a group of samurai who seceded the
Mito-han feudal state outside of the Sotosakurada-mon Gate in an event known as the Sakuradamon Incident.