Porta Sempione ("Simplon Gate") is a city gate of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. The name is used both to refer to the gate proper and to the surrounding district (''

quartiere A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of (). Formed a ...

''), a part of the Zone 1 division (the historic city centre), including the major avenue of Corso Sempione. The gate is marked by a landmark

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road, and usually standing alone, unconnected to other buildings. In its simplest form, a triumphal ...

called Arco della Pace ("Arch of Peace"), dating back to the 19th century, although its origins can be traced back to a gate of the Roman walls of Milan.

The gate

History

A gate that roughly corresponds to modern Porta Sempione was already part of Roman walls of Milan. It was called ''Porta Giovia'' ("Jupiter's Gate") and was located at the end of modern Via San Giovanni sul Muro. At the time, the gate was meant to control an important road leading to what is now Castelseprio. Very little remains of the original

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

structure; some Roman

tombstone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

s that used to be placed by the outer side of the walls have been employed in the construction of later buildings such as the Basilica of Saint Simplician (located in Corso Garibaldi). In the Middle Ages, part of the Roman walls in the Porta Sempione area was adapted as part of the new walls. The gate itself was moved north, in a place that is now occupied by the

Sforza Castle The Sforza Castle ( ; ) is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 1 ...

. The Castle itself was completed in the 15th Century, under Duke

Filippo Maria Visconti Filippo Maria Visconti (3 September 1392 – 13 August 1447) was the duke of Duchy of Milan, Milan from 1412 to 1447. Reports stated that he was "paranoid", but "shrewd as a ruler." He went to war in the 1420s with Romagna, Republic of Florenc ...

, and the gate itself became part of the Castle. In 1807, under the Napoleonic rule, the Arch of Peace was built by architect

Luigi Cagnola Marchese Luigi Cagnola (9 June 1762 – 14 August 1833) was a Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical Italian architect. Biography Early years and education Cagnola was born in Milan. He was sent at the age of fourteen to the Clementine Colleg ...

. This new gate marked the place where the new Strada del Sempione entered Milan. This road, which is still in use today, connects Milan to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

through the

Simplon Pass The Simplon Pass (; ; ; ; ; ) is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig in the canton of Valais with Domodossola in Piedmont (Italy). The pass itself and the villag ...

crossing the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. At the time, the gate was still called ''Porta Giovia''. When the Napoleonic

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

fell and Milan was conquered by the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, the gate was not yet completed, and the construction was abandoned for a while. The construction of the Arch was resumed, again by Cagnola, in 1826, for Emperor Francis II, who dedicated the monument to the 1815

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

. When Cagnola died in 1833, his project was taken over by Francesco Londonio and Francesco Peverelli, who brought it to completion in 1838. The gate was the scene of several prominent events in the Milanese history of the 19th century. On 22 March 1848, the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n army led by marshal Josef Radetzky escaped from Milan through Porta Giovia after being defeated in the

Five Days of Milan The Five Days of Milan ( ) was an insurrection and a major event in the Revolutions of 1848, Revolutionary Year of 1848 that started the First Italian War of Independence. On 18 March, a rebellion arose in the city of Milan which in five day ...

rebellion. On 8 June 1859, four days after the

Battle of Magenta The Battle of Magenta was fought on 4 June 1859 near the town of Magenta in the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire, during the Second Italian War of Independence. It resulted in a French-Sardinian victory under ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

and

Victor Emmanuel II of Italy Victor Emmanuel II (; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di House of Savoy, Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia (also informally known as Piedmont–Sardinia) from 23 March 1849 u ...

triumphally entered Milan through the gate. The Italian quote written above the arch, translated by Google Translate to English reads, "To the hopes of the Italian kingdom auspice Napoleon 1 the Milanese dedicated the year MDCCCVII and freed from servitude they happily returned the year MDCCCLIX.".

Site and decoration

The gate is located at the center of a wide round square known as ''Piazza Sempione'' ("Simplon Square"). It is adjacent to Simplon Park, the main city park of Milan, which was designed with the explicit intent of providing panoramic views encompassing both the Arch and the nearby

. The gate is a neoclassical triumphal arch, 25 m high and 24 m wide, decorated with a number of

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or Casting (metalworking), cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to ...

s, and corinthian columns. Bas-reliefs and statues are made of a variety of materials, including

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

, and

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

. Many of such decorations, especially bas-reliefs, are dedicated to major events in the history of Italy and Europe, such as the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and G ...

, the foundation of the

Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" (; ), was a constituent land (crown land) of the Austrian Empire from 1815 to 1866. It was created in 1815 by resolution of the Congress of Vienna in recogniti ...

, the

. Other decorations have classical mythology subjects such as

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

, Ceres,

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, and Victoria- Nike. There are also a group of statues that are

allegories As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

of major rivers in North Italy such as the Po, the

Adige The Adige is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the province of South Tyrol, near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland, and flows through most of northeastern Italy ...

and the

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

. Notable artists that have collaborated to the decoration of the gate include Pompeo Marchesi,

Luigi Acquisti Luigi Acquisti (1745–1823) was an Italian sculptor mainly known for his works in the neoclassical architecture, neoclassical style. He was born in Forlì the 29 March 1747 and died in Bologna in 1823. His works are distributed throughout Italy ...

, Grazioso Rusca, Luigi Buzzi Leone, Giovanni Battista Comolli, Luigi Marchesi, Nicola Pirovano, Francesco Peverelli, Benedetto Cacciatori, Giovanni Antonio Labus, Claudio Monti, Gaetano Monti,

Camillo Pacetti Camillo Pacetti (Rome, 2 May 1758 - Milan, 16 July 1826) was an Italian sculptor. He was the brother of Vincenzo Pacetti, another sculptor. A student of the Accademia di San Luca, he later worked in various churches in Rome and Milan. In 1804 ...

, Antonio Pasquali, Giovambattista Perabò, Angelo Pizzi, Grazioso Rusca, Girolamo Rusca, and Francesco Somaini. At the sides of the Arch of Peace there are two minor rectangular buildings that used to be the customs office.

Bas-reliefs of the Arch

Arco della Pace interno sx.jpg, ''Congress of Prague'', internal bas-relief Arco della Pace interno dx.jpg, internal bas-relief Arco della Pace 10.jpg, bas-relief Arco della Pace 12.jpg, bas-relief Arco della Pace 17.jpg, bas-relief Arco della Pace 5.jpg, ''Foundation of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia'', by Pompeo Marchesi, on the right of the Arch of Peace Arco-della-Pace-istituzione-della-Corona-Ferrea-di-Giambattista-Perabò.jpg, Institution of the Iron Crown by Giovanni Battista Perabò

References in popular culture

In his novella '' A Moveable Feast'',

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

mentions the Arch of Peace, expressing the belief that its orientation be parallel to those of the

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel () () is a triumphal arch in Paris, located in the Place du Carrousel. It is an example of Neoclassical architecture, Neoclassical architecture in the Corinthian order. It was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemo ...

and the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile in Paris.

The district

The area surrounding Porta Sempione is a prominent historic district of Milan. The district also includes part of Corso Sempione, a large avenue leading to Porta Sempione from the northwest. Some of the most important streets in the area are Via Canonica, Via

, Via Abbondio Sangiorgio, Via Mario Pagano, Via Agostino Bertani, Via

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

, and Via Francesco Melzi d'Eril. Via Melzi d'Eril and Via Antonio Canova form a half circle concentric to Piazza Sempione. The main landmark of the area is the

, which dominates the Simplon Park, the largest and most important city park in the centre of Milan. The park houses other renowned monuments and places of interest, such as the Branca Tower, 108 m high, the Palazzo dell'Arte (one of the seats of the Triennale art expo), sculptures by

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...

, and the

public aquarium A public aquarium () or public water zoo is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and aquatic plant, plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, ...

. The whole area is one of the centres of the Milanese night life, with a number of bars, pubs, restaurants, and discos; since the RAI public television company, as well as some major

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

s, have their headquarters in the area, frequent appearances of celebrities contribute to the popularity of the Sempione's night life venues.Il camper del Corriere al Sempione
/ref>

Notes

References

Sources

* {{Districts of Milan Neoclassical architecture in Milan Tourist attractions in Milan Districts of Milan Triumphal arches in Italy