Porta Maggiore, now known as Porta Mazzini, was the main eastern portal of the former medieval walls of the city of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It straddles the site in which the Strada Maggiore of Bologna changes name to via Mazzini, immediately west of the intersection with the Viale di Ciconvallazione. First erected in the 13th century, in 1507, under

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...

a further fortification was added. By the 17th century, porticos were built leading to the church-sanctuary of

Santa Maria Lacrimosa degli Alemanni Santa Maria Lacrimosa degli Alemanni is a small church and sanctuary, built during the Renaissance era, and located on Via Mazzini number 65 in central Bologna, Italy. History Originally sandwiched between the no longer-extant parish church of Sant ...

further down on Via Mazzini. In 1770, the portal was partially reconstructed by designs of

Giovanni Giacomo Dotti Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

. In 1903, the gate was nearly completely dismantled, but a fierce debate shut down the work, and soon led to conservation and restoration under the direction of

Alfonso Rubbiani Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

. Further restorations occurred in 2007 and 2009, but it remains a shell of the former self, an inconvenience in the road, standing as a roofless brick structure with two ogival arches in series, devoid of its former facade and covered passageway.Restauro delle porte di Bologna 2007-2009 - Porta Maggiore

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maggiore Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century