The Leopold Gate is located in the oldest part of Belgrade’s bastion fortifications and its construction began immediately after the Austrian conquest of the city in 1688. The gate was not completed immediately, but a few years later, during the works led by Andrea Cornaro.

The current monumental baroque facade is actually younger than the gate itself; it was made during the great Austrian works on the renovation of the fortress, in the third decade of the 18th century. The initials carved over the arch of the gate read L. P. — Leopoldus Primus — and they belong to Emperor Leopold I (1640–1705), during whose reign Belgrade first came into the possession of Austria. This was probably the reason why the gate was dedicated to his memory at the time of construction of the new facade and named after him.