Porta Felice is a monumental

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Sicily; the gate is located in the zone of the

Foro Italico Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy, on the slopes of Monte Mario. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Mussolini's Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti. Inspired by t ...

and the Castellammare quarter. It represents the water-side entrance into what was formerly known as Via

Cassaro Cassaro ( Sicilian: ''Càssaru'', in the local dialect: ''Càssuru'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily (Italy). The name is originally from the Arabic word القصر (''al-Qasru'') meaning "the castle." ...

, the most ancient main street of the city, but renamed Via Vittorio Emanuele after Italian unification. The gate was built in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

and

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

styles between the 16th and 17th centuries.

History

In 1581 the street of the Cassaro was extended in the vicinity of the sea. The

Viceroy of Sicily This is a list of viceroys of Sicily: Aragonese direct rule 1409–1516 * John of Aragon, Duke of Peñafiel, later king John II of Aragon, 1458–1479, acted 1409–1416. * Domingo Ram y Lanaja, Bishop of Lleida 1416–1419 * Antonio de Cardona ...

Marcantonio Colonna Marcantonio II Colonna (sometimes spelled Marc'Antonio; 1535 – August 1, 1584), Duke of Tagliacozzo and Duke and Prince of Paliano, was a Roman aristocrat who served as a Viceroy of Sicily in the service of the Spanish Crown, Spanish gener ...

decided to build a monumental gate in the new water-side entrance of the Cassaro (the same thing was done on the opposite side with Porta Nuova). The gate was named after the wife of Colonna,

Felice Orsini Felice Orsini (; ; 10 December 1819 – 13 March 1858) was an Italian revolutionary and leader of the ''Carbonari'' who tried to assassinate Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. Early life Felice Orsini was born at Meldola in Romagna, then p ...

. On 6 July 1582 the groundbreaking ceremony took place. In the following years the construction was stopped. In 1602 the new Viceroy

Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...

, Duke of Feria, decided to resume the work. The project was assigned to the senatorial architect

Mariano Smiriglio Mariano Smiriglio (1561 – 1636) was a Sicilian architect, painter and decorator, active in a Mannerist-Sicilian Baroque style in his native Palermo. He was born in Palermo, and started as a painter at the school of Filippo Paladini, then he w ...

. When he died, in 1636, the work was assigned to

Pietro Novelli Pietro Novelli (March 2, 1603 – August 27, 1647) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Palermo. Also known as ''il Monrealese'' or ''Pietro "Malta" Novelli'' to distinguish him from his father, Pietro Antonio Novelli I ...

. In 1637 the gate was completed. In 1642 two fountains were added. During the

Second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the right pillar was almost entirely destroyed by aerial bombing. Later, a restoration has partially succeeded in restoring Porta Felice to its former glory.

Art

Flanking the pillars on the second floor, facing seaward, are statues representing two female saints:

Santa Ninfa Santa Ninfa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. History Santa Ninfa was founded in 1605 by Luigi Arias Giardina who, with approval of King Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1 ...

and Santa Cristina. At the top of the pillar are eagles with the coat of arms of the viceroy Colonna. The eagle as well is a symbol of Palermo and the Hapsburg monarchs.

References

External links

*
Image gallery
* {{in lang, it}

Felice Felice is a name that can be used as both a given name, masculine or feminine, and a surname. It is a common name in Italian, where it is equivalent to Felix. Notable people with the name include: Given name Arts and literature Film and theater *Fe ...

Baroque architecture in Palermo Renaissance architecture in Palermo 1637 establishments in Italy

History

Art

See also

References

External links