When the town wall was extended to the south around 1350, this section of the wall was given two gates at once: close to the Rhine, the gate next to the Red Tower, and further up the slope, the gate at the White Tower. This was necessary because since Roman times the long-distance road from Mainz to Koblenz divided into two parallel roads in Oberwesel. One flat road ran along the Rhine, but was not free of floods. The other ran along the slope with many inclines, but was flood-free. Both roads had to be secured by gates. The White Tower at the south end of the city was built as a shell tower like the corresponding Coblence Gate Tower at the north end of the city. The gate passage could also be closed here by portcullis and gates. Old views of the city show that this gate tower not only had a wooden battlements, but also a particularly high pyramid roof decorated with superstructures. For a long time it was the representative entrance to the town from the Church of Our Lady. In front of the gate was a deep moat, which was spanned by a bridge. Its arches are visible again today. In 1862/63 the tower was purchased by a Dutch merchant and rebuilt in neo-Gothic style into a residential tower. The old dechanei, which was located next to the gate, was demolished at that time and replaced by a new building. Hence the name "Villa Nova".