 Porta Santo Spirito, Rome | |
   Porta Santo Spirito Shown within Rome | |
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| Location | Rome |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°54′01″N12°27′42″E / 41.9003°N 12.4616°E /41.9003; 12.4616 |
Porta Santo Spirito is one of the gates of theLeonine walls inRome (Italy). It rises on the back side of theHospital of the same name, in Via dei Penitenzieri, close to the crossing with Piazza della Rovere.
It is one of the most ancient gates in the wall surrounding theVatican, as it is contemporary to the building of the walls ofPope Leo IV, around 850.
Although it was the only direct connection betweenSt. Peter's Basilica and the area ofTrastevere (throughPorta Settimiana), as well as the access toVia Aurelianova, it was opened at first as a secondary passage.
Its former name wasPosterula Saxonum (Postern of theSaxons). In effect, in 727 KingIne ofWessex, after having abdicated, moved to Rome, where he founded aSchola Saxonum (whose purpose was to provide a Catholic instruction to English clergy and nobles), together with a church and a graveyard. Saxon presence in the area is attested until the end of 12th century, when KingLohn Lackland assigned the complex of theSchola to the building of the Church of Santa Maria in Saxia (nowChurch of Santo Spirito in Sassia) and of the still existingHospital, whose foundations were settled in 794. On that occasionPope Innocent III also modified the name of the gate, giving it the present one.
The structure withstood several restorations and enlargements. A remarkable one was probably carried out at the beginning of the 15th century, maybe byPope Gregory XII, given that the gate is calledPorta Nuova (Italian for "New Gate") in a document dated 1409. At the beginning of the following century,Pope Alexander VI substantially modified this gate, together with other ones, as well as the surrounding wall; finally, about forty years later,Pope Paul III also made some interventions, using the advice and services of such engineers asMichelangelo andAntonio da Sangallo the Younger. A new fear of raids bySaracen pirates, as well as the modernpoliorcetic techniques suggesting a massive use ofartilleries, persuaded Paul III to modernize the walls, giving them significant defensive characteristics.
With regards to the well-known contrast between the two artists, it is said that the works of the gate were based on a beautiful design by Sangallo[1] and Buonarroti (who completed them after the death of the colleague, but in a hasty and rough way), since he could not demolish it, made some detrimental interventions to tarnish the work of the rival, as well as to take revenge for the merciless criticisms he received for his own design ofPorta Pia.
Presently the gate shows indeed an unfinished aspect (especially in the upper part) with emptyniches, and is almost hidden by the imposing Sangallo'sbastion rising in the vicinity. Moreover, a century later the gate had already lost its function (just likePorta Settimiana), as it was included within the larger circle of theJaniculum walls, and there was no need to complete it.
Media related toPorta Santo Spirito (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Porta Pertusa | Landmarks of Rome Porta Santo Spirito | Succeeded by Castra Praetoria |
