Porta Asinaria

The Asinaria door was originally a simple arch covered in travertine, open along a stretch of walls between two towers. The door allowed the transit along the Asinaria Via, secondary route compared to the most important Latin and Appia streets.

With the renovation of Honorius in the fifth century, the passage was modified and monumentalized, also according to the access to the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. In addition to the doubling of the height, the defense was enhanced with the construction of two semicircular towers, flanked by the pre -existing square towers, and with the construction of a counter -act with an internal court for the guards.

During the Greek-Gothic war, Porta Asinaria constituted access to the city for the troops of Belisario (536) and Totila (546), to then become the scene of the last phases of the conflict between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII (1084). Note from Middle Ages with the name of Porta Lateransis, Porta Sancti Johannis Laterani or Porta de Laterano, maintained its defensive function for centuries, as evidenced by the progressive adaptations to the evolution of military techniques and armaments, including the reduction of windows of the central body after the introduction of firearms.

With the gradual rise in the surrounding soil level, due to urban planning transformations and natural phenomena, the door became unusable for its too low share. After being stripped of the travertine coating and thresholds, she was walled up at the behest of Pope Pius IV (1559-1565) and definitively abandoned after the construction of Porta San Giovanni in 1574.

Only the restoration works of the 1950s led to the rediscovery and recovery of the monument, which was freed from the powerful intervention that had partially obliterated it. On this occasion, the counterpart was highlighted, known only by the graphic documentation prior to 1574, and the passage was reopened, covered again in travertine on the basis of the imprints of the removed blocks.