Porta Nuova, Palermo, Italy - SpottingHistory.com

Porta Nuova is a monumental city gate of Palermo. It represents the entrance of the Cassaro (the main and most ancient street of the city) from Corso Calatafimi (the way to Monreale) and is located beside Palazzo dei Normanni, royal palace of Palermo.

According to the historian Tommaso Fazello the original gate was built in the 15th century. After the Charles V's conquest of Tunis, the Emperor came to Sicily. He entered in Palermo through this gate on 5 September 1535. In order to commemorate this event, the Senate of Palermo decreed to rebuild the gate in a more sumptuous style. The Viceroy of Sicily Marcantonio Colonna set off the construction in 1583. The gate was completed in 1584.

The gate was destroyed in 1667 because of a fire erupted inside the warehouse of the building. The Senate of Palermo commissioned the architect Gaspare Guercio to rebuild the gate. The work was completed in 1669.

The facade leading to the Cassaro has the typical style of the triumphal arches. The facade leading to the Corso Calatifimi and Piazza Indipendenza presents four big telamones depicting the Moors defeated by Charles V.

References:

Wikipedia

Castles and fortifications in Italy

User Reviews

pts pts (4 months ago)
Shockingly large and preserved fortress gate

ari prass (8 months ago)
Impresive tower gate of city entrance. Stunning design.

Ognyan Ivanov (11 months ago)
Beautiful and worth visiting!

Marcus Hurley (2 years ago)
We walked a little way up the road from the cathedral to Porta Nuova, built to celebrate the capture of Tunis from the Moors in the sixteenth century. There are actually better views from the Royal Gardens in the palace but it's an impressive structure. Most of the traffic is now blocked from using the road so it's easy enough to walk around and get a good look at it.

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