Porta dei Leoni – Verona

Description

Porta dei Leoni was an ancient access point to the city of Verona, built in Valpantena white stone in the 1^st century BCE on the cardo maximo.

At the time of its construction, it was 13m tall with a square layout around an inner courtyard, double arches (of which only the one facing the city survives) on the façade and galleries on the upper levels.
Today the gate is incorporated into a 13^th century building and appears as single arch, framed by a shrine with Doric semi-columns crowned with Corinthian capitols beneath centred square windows and an exedra flanked by twisted columns.  Facing the door, the base of one of the two defensive towers can be seen two metres below street level, along with part of the side wall and fragments of the flooring of the inner courtyard.

Position on map