Description
Porta Capuana is one of the ancient gates of Naples, in the San Lorenzo district, next to Castel Capuano. Built in 1484, it is a white marble arch between two towers: for centuries it has been the city's entrance from the east, and it is what remains of the Aragonese walls.
The name comes from Capua, the city it faces. The royal road to Apulia passed through the gate, and whoever arrived from the east entered the city here. It has always been a crossroads of streets and trade.
The marble arch is rich in bas-reliefs, in Renaissance style. It was designed by Giuliano da Maiano, who drew on Roman triumphal arches, without forgetting that the gate also had to defend the city.
On either side stand the two hollow towers, called Onore and Virtù (Honor and Virtue). The first, on the left as you pass under the arch, houses the headquarters and museum of the Associazione nazionale Arditi d'Italia; the second is on the opposite side.
In the center, above the arch, is the coat of arms of Charles V, carved in 1535 for his visit to Naples. Below it was the coronation of Ferrante, which disappeared with the Spanish monarchy, which had it erased.
Almost against the gate stands the church of Santa Caterina a Formiello, a fine example of Neapolitan Renaissance architecture. Other towers of the old circuit climb north, but they are abandoned.
In the seventeenth century a niche with a fresco of Saint Michael and Saints Januarius, Agnellus and Roch, praying for the end of the plague of 1656, was added to the gate. In the 1930s the gate was freed from the neighboring buildings and the niche removed.
Mattia Preti is tied to those frescoes. The story goes that he had been sentenced to death for a murder committed at the epidemic's health checkpoints, and that he bargained for his freedom in exchange for paintings on all the city's gates.
Both Charles VIII of France and Charles of Bourbon passed through Porta Capuana. In the early twentieth century the so-called Latin Quarter was born here, a meeting place for Neapolitan artists.
The name comes from Capua, the city it faces. The royal road to Apulia passed through the gate, and whoever arrived from the east entered the city here. It has always been a crossroads of streets and trade.
The marble arch is rich in bas-reliefs, in Renaissance style. It was designed by Giuliano da Maiano, who drew on Roman triumphal arches, without forgetting that the gate also had to defend the city.
On either side stand the two hollow towers, called Onore and Virtù (Honor and Virtue). The first, on the left as you pass under the arch, houses the headquarters and museum of the Associazione nazionale Arditi d'Italia; the second is on the opposite side.
In the center, above the arch, is the coat of arms of Charles V, carved in 1535 for his visit to Naples. Below it was the coronation of Ferrante, which disappeared with the Spanish monarchy, which had it erased.
Almost against the gate stands the church of Santa Caterina a Formiello, a fine example of Neapolitan Renaissance architecture. Other towers of the old circuit climb north, but they are abandoned.
In the seventeenth century a niche with a fresco of Saint Michael and Saints Januarius, Agnellus and Roch, praying for the end of the plague of 1656, was added to the gate. In the 1930s the gate was freed from the neighboring buildings and the niche removed.
Mattia Preti is tied to those frescoes. The story goes that he had been sentenced to death for a murder committed at the epidemic's health checkpoints, and that he bargained for his freedom in exchange for paintings on all the city's gates.
Both Charles VIII of France and Charles of Bourbon passed through Porta Capuana. In the early twentieth century the so-called Latin Quarter was born here, a meeting place for Neapolitan artists.