Porta Nolana, Naples

Porta Nolana is a surviving medieval city gate, framed by sturdy piperno towers. Its marble round arch and Renaissance design come from Giuliano da Maiano, who created the gate in the fifteenth century. Look at the relief set into the arch: it shows Ferrante I mounted and wearing armour.

The structure replaced an earlier entrance near the Basilica dell’Annunziata, and its name comes from the road that once led toward Nola. The flanking towers are called Torre della Fede and Torre della Speranza. Their names add Faith and Hope to this fortified gateway.

The gate once carried a fresco by Mattia Preti, depicting the Madonna with the Child and saints appealing for protection during a plague; that painting has disappeared. What remains is a compact meeting of carved marble, dark volcanic stone, royal imagery, and the memory of a lost work.