Description of the attraction
Porta Borsari is an antique gate in Verona, built in the 1st century AD. as a military outpost in the south of the city. Today they are considered a monument of the ancient Roman era and a tourist attraction. Unfortunately, only the facade of the building has survived to this day, which, according to historians, served as military barracks.
The Postumiev road, built in 148 BC, once passed through Porta Borsari. and was about 450 km long. In Verona, it turned into Decumanus Maximus - this is how the main street of the city, oriented from east to west, was called in the Roman Empire. In the Roman Forum - now Piazza dell'Erbe - Decumanus Maximus intersected with Cardo Maximus, a north-south oriented street. And the gates themselves were the main entrance to the city and, thanks to this, were richly decorated. Once upon a time, even a courtyard adjoined them, which was destroyed later - only the remains of its foundation have survived on the Piazza Serenelli-Bencholini square adjacent to the gate.
In the era of ancient Rome, the gate was called Porta Iovia, as it was located next to a small temple of the god Jupiter. In the Middle Ages, they began to be called Porta di San Zeno in honor of the patron saint of Verona, Saint Zinon. And the current name of the gate comes from the word "bursaria", which in Latin means "tax, duty" - the soldiers who served here collected a duty.
Today, the white-stone Porta Borsari is a three-tier structure: on the first tier there are two arched openings that used to be entrance gates, and the other two tiers consist of six openings framed by semi-columns with Corinthian capitals. Also on the lower tier there is an inscription from the year 245 - “Colonia Verona Augusta”.
