{"id":805,"date":"2026-03-20T11:41:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=805"},"modified":"2026-05-02T18:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:32:20","slug":"porta-settimiana","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=805","title":{"rendered":"Porta\u00a0Settimiana\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"403\" height=\"303\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-654.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-806\" srcset=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-654.png 403w, https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-654-300x226.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 403px) 100vw, 403px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By the third century BC, the ancient, defensive, Republican, Servian Wall had virtually disappeared, testimony to the City\u2019s status as \u2018master of the world\u2019 and its confident, self-reliant ability to defend itself against all potential invaders. In the third century AD, however, military situation had radically\u00a0changed\u00a0and the growing threat of Germanic invasion caused the emperor Aurelian to construct a wall system capable of repelling the\u00a0attacks of those foreign forces, a portent of the future and sign of the gradual\u00a0decline\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Empire.\u00a0The\u00a0<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Porta\u00a0Settimiana<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>in\u00a0Trastevere\u00a0remains\u00a0part of the\u00a0<strong>Aurelian Wall\u00a0<\/strong>system and\u00a0is the only functioning gate of its kind on the right bank of the river. Of the great cities\u00a0<strong>throughout all of Europe only\u00a0Rome\u00a0retains\u00a0its\u00a0original\u00a0gates,\u00a0all\u00a014\u00a0of\u00a0them<\/strong>.\u00a0They originated\u00a0with Emperor Aurelian\u2019s construction in 275\u00a0AD\u00a0of his great defensive wall around the City although, even when completed, they did not\u00a0completely surround\u00a0all the fourteen districts\u00a0established\u00a0by Augustus. Through them passed, then and now, its major roads leading to all parts of the Empire: Porta Flaminia (Porta del Popolo) to the north; Porta San Pancrazio (Aureliana to the west and then north into Gaul); Porta San Sebastiano (Asinara)\u00a0along the Via Appia to southern Italy; Porta\u00a0Ostiensis\u00a0to the port city of Ostia at the mouth of the Tiber; Porta San Giovanni east to the hill town around Albano. Builders incorporated into the wall many structures standing in its way (Caius Cestius Pyramid, aqueducts, and the Castro\u00a0Pretorio).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"313\" height=\"231\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-655.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-807\" srcset=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-655.png 313w, https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-655-300x221.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 313px) 100vw, 313px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Its wall runs up to and through the\u00a0<strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Janiculum Hill<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>above it. Built 60 years before the construction of the Aurelian wall and incorporated into it, the name of the gate\u00a0probably comes\u00a0from its proximity to monuments constructed in the age of\u00a0<strong>Septimius Severus\u00a0or his sons,\u00a0Caracalla\u00a0or Geta<\/strong>.\u00a0This\u00a0gate\u00a0served\u00a0as\u00a0the\u00a0entrance\u00a0to\u00a0an\u00a0important\u00a0medieval\u00a0road,\u00a0Via\u00a0della\u00a0Lungara, running between the river, the\u00a0Janiculum and the Porta Santo Spirito at St. Peter\u2019s.\u00a0Because of its importance as a major pilgrim route to the\u00a0Vatican\u00a0it was restored by\u00a0<strong>Pope Nicholas V\u00a0<\/strong>and enlarged by\u00a0<strong>Pope Alexander VI\u00a0<\/strong>in the last half of the 15<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0century.\u00a0<strong>Pope Urban VIII\u00a0<\/strong>in the 17<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0century replaced\u00a0virtually the\u00a0entire Aurelian wall section in\u00a0Trastevere, but\u00a0left the gate intact. Its last restoration occurred in the 18<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0century.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"327\" height=\"220\" src=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-656.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-808\" srcset=\"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-656.png 327w, https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/image-656-300x202.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 327px) 100vw, 327px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By the third century BC, the ancient, defensive, Republican, Servian Wall had virtually disappeared, testimony to the City\u2019s status as \u2018master of the world\u2019 and its confident, self-reliant ability to defend itself against all potential invaders. In the third century AD, however, military situation had radically\u00a0changed\u00a0and the growing threat of Germanic invasion caused the emperor&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-805","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}