Porta Romana is one of the portals in the medieval Walls of Siena. It is located on

Via Cassia The Via Cassia () was an important Roman road striking out of the Via Flaminia near the Milvian Bridge in the immediate vicinity of Rome and, passing not far from Veii, traversed Etruria. The ''Via Cassia'' passed through Baccanae, Sutrium ...

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, region of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Italy. The gate exits near the Basilica of San Clemente and leads south out of town to Via Enea Silvio Piccolomini.

History

The gate was built in 1327-1328 by Agnolo di VenturaArtistic Guide to Siena and Its Environs
Societa Editrice Fiorentina, Florence (1908), page 28. and

Agostino di Giovanni Agostino da Siena or Agostino di Giovanni () was an Italian architect and sculptor, active between 1310 and 1347. Biography According to the Italian Renaissance biographer Giorgio Vasari, Agostino was born into a Sienese family of sculptors and ...

, and has a

crenellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

roofline with

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

in front gate. The gate is complex, with two separate portals, separated by a small inner court, with the inner gatehouse taller than the outer one. The large arches are faced with

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and rusty varieties. It is formed by a process ...

marble. The courtyard is surrounded by arrowslits. It was likely that the gate doors could be opened sequentially. The outer portal has a round bas-relief with the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

''IHS''

Christogram A Christogram () is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbolism, religious symbol within the Christian Church. One of the oldest Christograms is the C ...

inside a sun symbol (

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

Christogram). In 1417,

Taddeo di Bartolo Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1363 – 26 August 1422), also known as Taddeo Bartoli, was an Italian painter of the Sienese School during the early Renaissance. His biography appears in the '' Vite'' of Giorgio Vasari, who claims that Taddeo was the un ...

was commissioned to paint the ''Madonna'' icon on the inner portal, dedicated to the protection of the city. The painting was further retouched by

Sassetta ''For the village near Livorno, see Sassetta, Tuscany'' Stefano di Giovanni di Consolo, known as il Sassetta (–1450) was a List of Italian painters, Tuscan painter of the Italian Renaissance painting, Renaissance, and a significant figure of th ...

and later

Sano di Pietro Sano may refer to: Geography * Sano, Kentucky, U.S. * Sano, Tochigi, Japan * Monte Sano Mountain, a mountain in Alabama, United States ** Monte Sano State Park * Wai Sano, a volcano in Flores, Indonesia Fiction * Sano (''Rurouni Kenshin''), a ch ...

who completed it in 1466. The painting depicted a ''Glory of Angels'' in lower arches, and a ''Coronation of the Virgin'' in the central arch. Due to the state of decay, the remaining fresco was transferred in 1978 to the Basilica of San Francesco, Siena.

Bibliography

*''Toscana. Guida d'Italia'' (Guida rossa), Touring Club Italiano, Milano 2003.
Fonte: scheda nei "Luoghi della Fede", Regione Toscana
{{Authority control Romana Buildings and structures completed in 1328