Porta Borsari

Porta Borsari, located in the heart of the historic center of Verona, is one of the most fascinating examples of Roman architecture in the city. Originally called Porta Iovia, in reference to the nearby temple of Jupiter Lustral, this monumental gate was built towards the end of the 1st century BC and later renovated in the 1st century AD. It marked the entrance of the Via Postumia into the city, a consular road that connected Genoa to Aquileia, crossing all of northern Italy and making Verona a crucial hub for transportation and trade at the time. Porta Borsari was a building of great grandeur, characterized by a facade about 13 meters high and covered in local white stone. The original structure consisted of a rectangular building with a central courtyard and double passageways in the facades. This architectural style, known as ‘Italic’, was typical of Roman military constructions and served to ensure effective defense and strict control of traffic entering and leaving the city. During the Middle Ages, the city of Verona expanded southward, and the Roman walls were largely destroyed or incorporated into new urban structures. However, Porta Borsari continued to serve a control function, no longer military but fiscal. The current name of the gate derives from the bursarii, the tax collectors who collected taxes on goods entering the city. These tax collectors used to stop at the entrance to demand duty from merchants going to the market in Piazza delle Erbe, the commercial heart of medieval Verona. The inscription on the lintel of the gate recalls the renovation under the emperor Gallienus in 265 AD. This intervention is part of the broader context of defensive renovations of Roman cities in response to the barbarian threats of the time. The current facade of the gate, with its two floors of six windows each, is characterized by rich architectural decoration, with frames and capitals that testify to the skill of Roman craftsmen.