Porta Settimiana

History

A passage of Livy, that nonetheless does not mention the gate explicitly, could indicate that it was built during the monarchy; however, at that time there was no wall on the right bank of the Tiber (the first one was built in 87 BC), but just a fortress protecting Pons Sublicius; therefore the citation appears to be totally unreliable.

No trace or information about the former architectural structure has survived; maybe it just consisted of a postern or so. The gate has been mentioned (but not with certainty) as the meeting point between Lucius Cornelius Cinna and Gaius Marius with his army during the Social War, and no other antique document mentions it up to a document written in 1123.

The important arterial road, running between the river and the Janiculum, started from Porta Settimiana and led to Porta Santo Spirito and then to St. Peter's Basilica (now Via della Lungara), was formerly called Via Santa ("Holy Street"), due to its important role in the access of pilgrims. The street and the gate are mentioned in some documents dating back to the end of the 14th century, disposing to keep both of them clean and free of debris from the flood of the river and to throw no garbage, so that the road was adequate to its name and function. After a restoration by Pope Nicholas V in 1451, in 1498 - due to the remarkable importance that the street had acquired - Pope Alexander VI rebuilt the gate and enlarged it, probably raising it from its former level and giving it the present aspect. On that occasion an inscription, referring to Septimius Severus according to some contemporaries, was lost; it probably was an important clue for the reconstruction of the history of the gate.

In 1643, during the building of the Janiculum walls by Pope Urban VIII, almost the entire stretch of Aurelian walls on the right bank of the River was torn down and the gate was included within the new walls, thus losing any military and access function.

The last renovation, carried out by Pope Pius VI in 1798, maintained a military aspect - included with the guelph battlements - scarcely justifiable for a gate fully integrated into a city quarter.