Porta Romana

Porta Romana is the gateway to the south of the walls of Florence, second in size after Porta St. Frediano, located on the road to Siena and Rome, hence the name. Built between 1328 and 1331 to a design by Andrea Orcagna, it keeps for two long stretches of the ancient wall of the town. The present appearance comes from a speech in 1938 by the architect Ezio Zalaffi, when the complex was isolated from the building huddled and new arches were opened in the walls to facilitate the traffic. At the end of the 90s they were restored the great wooden doors in oak, equipped with a dense nailing. The possibility to access to the walkway is an exceptional event. On the sides of the large central arch, are two tombstones with long inscriptions in Latin: the first, in memory of the solemn entry into the city of the Medici Pope Leo X, the second, in memory of the coming of Emperor Charles V. In the inner bezel, as in most other ancient surviving gates, it is a fresco of the early sixteenth century depicting the Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Zanobi, Peter and Nicholas of Tolentino, a work by Franciabigio. On the square in front, there is a large contemporary marble statue by Michelangelo Pistoletto, which depicts a woman who heads south, taking on the head a second figure in horizontal looking towards the city, symbolizing a link between past and present .