Porta Palatina (also known as the Palatine Gate; in Piedmontese: Pòrta Palatin-a) is a Roman Age city gate located in Turin, Italy. It provided access through the city walls of Julia Augusta Taurinorum (modern Turin) from the north side and constituted the Porta Principalis Dextra (Right-Side Main Gate) of the ancient Roman town. It is considered one of the world's best-preserved 1st-century AD Roman gateways.
Etymology
The name Porta Palatina literally refers to a palazzo ("palace") placed near the gate, though it is unclear which palace is meant. The most widely accepted theory suggests it may refer either to the former Casa del Senato (House of the Senate), a medieval palace very close to the gate, or to the Palazzo di Città (City Hall), also located nearby. A secondary theory proposes the existence of an alleged adjacent amphitheatre near present-day Borgo Dora that may have been called a palazzo by the ancients. Over the centuries, the gate was also known as Porta Comitale (Count's Gate), Porta Doranea (leading to the Dora river), and Porta Palazzo.
Features
The gate served as access to the cardo maximus, now identified as Via Porta Palatina and Via San Tommaso. Its remains are visible at the center of Piazza Cesare Augusto. The structure features two angular towers over thirty metres high with a sixteen-sided form, erected on square bases. The central body (interturrio) is about twenty metres long with two orders of windows: lower arch windows and upper jack arch windows. Below are four entryways — two larger central ones for vehicles and two narrower side ones for pedestrians. Grooves along the inner walls suggest the original presence of cateractae, a system of gate gratings operated from the upper floor. On the ground near the gate, part of the Roman-era guardhouse remains, with furrows on the stones caused by wagon transit. A pair of bronze statues depicting Augustus Caesar and Julius Caesar are modern copies from the 1934 restoration.
History
Built in the 1st century during the Augustan or Flavian Age, the gate may predate the construction of the city walls and could have been built on the site of an earlier Republican Age gate. It served as a city gate for centuries and was turned into a castrum in the 11th century, though the internal cavaedium (courtyard) was lost over time. In 1404, the western tower was rebuilt and both towers were completed with battlements for defensive purposes.
In the early 18th century, the gate was scheduled for demolition under the urban renewal program of Vittorio Amedeo II, but architect and engineer Antonio Bertola convinced the duke to preserve it. A major restoration took place in 1934, and in 2006 the City of Turin undertook further restoration, making the towers accessible to the public and building underground parking for the nearby Porta Palazzo open market.
Archaeological Park
Together with the remains of the ancient Roman theatre located a short distance away, the Palatine Gate is part of the so-called Archaeological Park, which opened in 2006.
