- Porta Pinciana
Porta Pinciana is a
gate of theAurelian Walls inRome .The name derives from the "
gens " Pincia, who owned the epponymous hill (Pincian Hill ). In ancient times it was also called "Porta Turata" ("Plugged Gate", for it was partially closed) and "Porta Salaria vetus", as the oldestVia Salaria passed under it (the "Via Salaria nova" passed under thePorta Salaria ).The gate was built under the emperor
Honorius in the early 5th century, by adapting a previous smaller service entrance. The two side passages are a modern addition. The gate remained closed until the early 20th century.During the Middle Ages a legend told that the Roman general
Belisarius , who here had defended Rome against theOstrogoths in the siege of 537-538, had been seen here as a beggar.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.