Porta Mesagne
- Type
- Castles and fortifications
- Area
- City centre
- Time
- about 10 min
- When
- any time, evenings included
Porta Mesagne, once called Porta Napoli, is the oldest gate in Brindisi. It dates from 1243, when Frederick II enlarged the city and gave it new walls, with a triumphal gate as the main entrance. From here ran the Ruga Magistra, the straight road to the port.
Look closely at the pointed arch: you can still see the sockets for the beams of a wooden roof, the hinges of the gates and, at the top, remains of medieval frescoes with figures of saints.
The great bastion beside it was renewed in 1551 by the engineer Giovan Battista Loffredo, who raised it and equipped it for artillery. On the south-west corner you'll find the coats of arms of Charles V, of the Viceroy Don Pedro de Toledo and of Loffredo himself.
Nearby
- Bastione Carlo VThe Bastione Carlo V stands beside Porta Mesagne. Ferdinand of Aragon began it and Giovanni Battista Loffredo completed it in 1551, as the…
- Vasche LimarieThe Vasche Limarie were the last section of the Roman aqueduct: the water came from the Pozzo di Vito, about 10 kilometres west, along a…
- Torrione dell'InfernoThe Torrione dell'Inferno is a round tower from 1484, designed by Antonio Acquaviva.
- Bastione San GiorgioNothing is left of the San Giorgio bastion: it stood here, where the entrance to Brindisi Centrale station and the big car park are today.