Porta San Giovanni (Rome)
41°53′9″N 12°30′33″E / 41.88583°N 12.50917°E |
Porta San Giovanni is a gate in the
.History
It consists of a single grand arch built for
Inaugurated in 1574, it had been necessitated by the reorganization of the whole Lateran area to facilitate traffic to and from southern Italy. Its opening led to the definitive closure of the neighboring and more imposing Porta Asinaria, of Aurelian date, which was by the 1570s proving unable to sustain such a high level of traffic and almost unusable due to the progressive raising of the road level neighboring.
The commemorative inscription above the arch reads:
Its design is conceived as more like the entrance to a villa than as a defensive work, lacking side towers, ramparts, and battlements, and marked instead by pronounced rustication work and by a simple decorative scheme composed of a large bearded head atop the arch on the external side.
The road in fact gives access to the via Campana (now the Via Appia Nuova), which for its first 3 miles follows the route of the ancient Via Asinaria, then that of the Via Labicana. The name via Campana, it is presumed, derives both from the road's ultimate destination of Campania and from the Roman Campagna through which it runs.
Besides the historical and military events on its reliefs, the Porta San Giovanni is linked to popular Roman traditions, now almost entirely disappeared, especially that relating to the Notte di San Giovanni, on 23 June, the notte delle streghe, with a major festival. According to legend, on that night the ghost of
The modern Appio-Latino quarter, now outside the gate, was set up in 1926 by demolishing and building over houses, cottages, vineyards, inns, and meadows. To keep the gate viable, also in 1926 fornici were opened at its sides, which can still be seen today.
See also
- Porta San Sebastiano – Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy
Sources
- Quercioli, Mauro (1982). Le mura e le porte di Roma. Rome: Newton & Compton.
- Cozzi, Laura G. (1968). Le porte di Roma. Rome: F. Spinosi.
External links
- Lucentini, M. (31 December 2012). The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City. Interlink. ISBN 9781623710088.
Media related to Porta San Giovanni (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Porta San Paolo |
Landmarks of Rome Porta San Giovanni |
Succeeded by Porta San Sebastiano |