🏰 Porta Pia

Porta Pia was one of the northern gates in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo to replace the Porta Nomentana situated several hundred meters southwards, which was closed up at the same time. Construction began in 1561 and ended in 1565, after the artist's death. A 1561 bronze commemorative medal by Gian Federico Bonzagna shows an early plan by Michelangelo, very different from his final design. The façade on the outside of the city was completed in 1869 under the Neo-Classicist design by Virginio Vespignani.