PORTA SANTI QUARANTA (GATE
OF THE HOLY FORTY)
Porta Santi Quaranta, which faces its namesake village, was
built in 1517 under the mayor Andrea Vendramin, who adorned it
with his own coat-of-arms. The external facade, which is
more elegant than that lacing the city, is characterised by
an extreme purity of architectonic lines and simplicity. It is
divided by four pilasters mounted on a high base of Istrian
stone supporting the trabeation. The coat of arms of the mayor,
the City and the doge Leonardo Loredan are used to embellish
the spaces between the pilasters.
A large arched entrance is found in the centre of the gate
surmounted by the beautiful Venetian lion by Annibale De
Lotto. This lion was posationed in 1909 by the Tarvisium
Venetiae Associationt, to replace the one destroyed by the French.
To the sides of the man arcway are two small portals:
the one to the left is surmounted by an inscription
dedicated to Bartolomeo d'Alviano, man-to-arms who collaborated in the construction and completion of the
encircling 16th century walls: "Bartolomeo Liviano veneti
exercitus imperatore designante idemo comprobante Senatu".
Above the portal on the right, traces of the stone
inscription dedicated to the mayor Andrea Vendramin on his
own behalf can still be seen. According to Cima, this
inscription was chipped away in 1691 by orders of the Serene
Republic. From that moment Porta Vendramina took back its
original name of Porta Santi Quaranta.
PORTA ALTINIA
Porta Altinia was, chronologically, the first of the three
gates to be built. It was erected in the years 1513-14 when
Sebastiano Moro held the office of mayor. It was so named
because through its door passed the refugees from the nearby
city of Altino, which was destroyed by Attila. It is very
different from the other two city gates, St. Tomaso and
Santi Quaranta. It still has the severe style of the gate from
the 1300s. Any sign of an access gate into the City is
barely perceptible from the interior. Instead, it appears to
be a small residential palace. Externally, however, the
brick tower is completely visible. A stone course is still
visible, which indicates where the original balcony was
located and from where the entry was defended. The stone
portal occupies almost the entire width of the facade,
outlined by two light pilasters. These pilasters are in turn
flanked by two coat-of-arms and support a trabeation which
was surmounted by the winged lion. Porta Altinia is no
longer on the main communication road network. However, when
it was built, it was a highly frequented route and an
obligatory one for those who wished to reach Venice.
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