Porta Palatina Roman Gateway and Archaeological Park

Why is it significant?

Stand before the towering red-brick twin towers of Porta Palatina, known in Roman antiquity as the Porta Principalis Sinistra, the best-preserved and most monumental Roman city gateway in northern Italy.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Stand before the towering red-brick twin towers of Porta Palatina, known in Roman antiquity as the Porta Principalis Sinistra, the best-preserved and most monumental Roman city gateway in northern Italy. Constructed during the first century AD during the reigns of Emperors Augustus and Tiberio, this formidable civic portal opened through the northern defensive walls of Augusta Taurinorum, serving as the main departure point for military legions and trade caravans heading toward Gaul and the western Alps via the Susa Valley. Rising more than thirty metres, the gateway is flanked by two imposing sixteen-sided polygonal towers crowned with medieval battlements, flanking a central four-portal brick gatehouse: the two central arches accommodated horse carriages and carts, while the two narrower flanking arches accommodated pedestrians. The surrounding archaeological park showcases excavated foundations of the ancient Roman defensive ramparts. The wide pedestrian park creates an open green buffer where locals stroll and relax beside the ancient Roman masonry that once formed the northern perimeter of imperial Augusta Taurinorum.

Inspect the double tiers of arched windows in the upper guard gallery: Roman sentries patrolled these covered walkways ready to pelt invaders with arrows and spears through arrow slits should anyone attempt to breach the heavy oak portcullises below. During the Middle Ages the gate was fortified into a nobleman's castle and judicial prison, saving it from demolition.

The name Palatina derives from its medieval proximity to the Curia Palatii, the imperial governor's palace where Frankish and Lombard counts held court and dispensed justice in ancient times.

Notice the two modern bronze statues set in the park: they are exact replicas of statues of Julius Caesar and Emperor Augustus, the legendary founders who established Augusta Taurinorum in twenty-eight BC.

Walk a short distance east inside the archaeological area to view the excavated remains of the Roman Theatre.