borsari gate

Porta Borsari is the best-preserved Roman gate in Verona and one of the most significant examples of Roman military architecture in Italy. Built in the 1st century AD, this imposing structure represented the main entrance to the Roman city for those coming from the west, along the Via Postumia, the important consular road that connected Genoa to Aquileia, crossing the entire Po Valley.

The current name derives from the medieval term "borsari", which referred to the customs officers (collectors of customs duties) who collected duties here on goods in transit. In Roman times the gate was called Porta Iovia, dedicated to Jupiter, the chief deity of the Roman pantheon.

The monumental facade with its two superimposed orders of arched windows is extraordinarily well preserved and allows us to admire the architectural and decorative refinement of imperial Roman architecture.

Construction in the imperial era

Porta Borsari was built in the 1st century AD, probably during the reign of Emperor Claudius or Nero, as part of the renewal of the urban walls of Verona. The city, which was already important in the republican era, reached its maximum splendour precisely in the 1st-2nd century AD, when it was endowed with imposing public works such as the Arena, the Roman Theatre and the new urban walls.

The original structure was much more extensive than the one we see today: the monumental facade we admire was only the external part of a complex defensive system that included an internal courtyard, side towers, covered passageways and rooms for the guard corps. The gate had two fornices (arched passageways) side by side that allowed simultaneous transit in both directions: the left one was intended for exit from the city, the right one for entry.

Above the fornices were two floors with windows that housed the rooms of the guard corps and allowed visual control of the people and goods in transit.

The facade of Porta Borsari is a masterpiece of classical Roman architecture. It is articulated on three levels: on the ground floor the two large passage arches, framed by Corinthian half-columns resting on tall plinths; on the first floor six arched windows separated by Corinthian pilasters; on the second floor six other smaller windows, also framed by classical architectural elements. The entire structure is made of local white stone, perfectly squared and assembled.

The decorations are sober but elegant: Corinthian capitals with sculpted acanthus leaves, moulded cornices crowning each floor, and architraves with inscriptions.

Above the two main arches a Latin inscription is still partially legible recalling the renovation works on the gate and the walls: "IMP. CAESAR. DIVI.

F. AUGUSTUS" indicates that the Emperor Augustus or his successors funded the works. The facade was originally completely plastered and painted with bright colours - reds, ochres, blues - according to Roman use, creating a very different effect from the bare stone we see today.

The fornices (the passage arches) are built with the round-arch technique, a Roman invention that made it possible to discharge the weight of the superstructure onto the side pillars.

The internal vaults of the arches still preserve traces of coffered decorations, typical of monumental Roman architecture. The original stone floors, worn down by two thousand years of footsteps, are still visible and show the grooves left by the wheels of Roman carts.

Throughout the Middle Ages, Porta Borsari continued to function as an urban passageway, even though it progressively lost its military function with the expansion of the city beyond the Roman walls. The defensive complex behind the facade was gradually dismantled or incorporated into new buildings. In the medieval period, the gate became the seat of the customs officers who collected customs duties on goods, from which the current name "Borsari" derives.

The Della Scala family, who governed Verona in the 13th-14th century, had new outer walls built and Porta Borsari found itself completely inside the city, losing all defensive function but retaining its symbolic and monumental value.

During the Venetian period (1405-1797), the gate was the subject of conservation restorations that preserved its structure.

In the 19th century, with the growing attention to ancient monuments promoted by the Romantic movement, Porta Borsari was recognised as one of the most important Roman remains of the city and was freed from the medieval superfetations that had partially hidden it. The archaeological excavations carried out in the 20th century have made it possible to better understand the original structure and consolidate the most fragile parts.

Today Porta Borsari is one of the most photographed monuments in Verona, a symbol of the city's historical continuity. The fact that it is perfectly integrated into the urban fabric - with shops, bars and houses surrounding it - makes it particularly fascinating: it is not an isolated monument in an archaeological area, but continues to be crossed daily by Veronese and tourists, just as it was two thousand years ago.