It was through this gate that, on 25 July 1261, the forces of the Empire of Nicaea, under General Alexios Strategopoulos, unexpectedly entered and retook the city, which had been the seat of the Latin Empire since its capture by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. In addition, in 1998 a subterranean basement with 4th/5th-century reliefs and tombs was discovered underneath the gate. It lies between the heptagonal towers 35 and 36, which were extensively rebuilt in later Byzantine times: its southern tower bears an inscription dated to 1439 commemorating repairs carried out under John VIII Palaiologos.
The Gate of the Spring or Pēgē Gate was named after a popular monastery outside the Walls, the Zōodochos Pēgē ('Life-giving Spring') in the modern suburb of Balıklı.
