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.
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Porta Nomentana in the context of Via Nomentana
The Via Nomentana was an ancient Roman road in Italy, leading North-East from Rome to Nomentum (modern Mentana), a distance of 23Â km (14Â mi). It originally bore the name "Via Ficulensis", from the old Latin village of Ficulea, about 13Â km (8.1Â mi) from Rome. It was subsequently extended to Nomentum, but never became an important high road, and merged in the Via Salaria a few kilometers beyond Nomentum. It is followed as far as Nomentum by the modern state road, but some traces of its pavement still exist.
The road started at the Porta Collina in the Servian Walls until the third century, when emperor Aurelian built the Porta Nomentana in his new set of walls.