Porta Felice is a monumental
city gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway.
Uses
City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...
of
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
, Sicily; the gate is located in the zone of the
Foro Italico
Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy, on the slopes of Monte Mario. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Benito Mussolini, Mussolini's Forum (Roman), Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, lat ...
and the
Castellammare quarter. It represents the water-side entrance into Via Vittorio Emanuele (formerly the
Cassaro), the most ancient main street of the city. The gate was built in
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
and
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
styles between the 16th and 17th centuries.
History
In 1581 the street of the Cassaro was extended in the vicinity of the sea.
The
Viceroy of Sicily
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory.
The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...
Marcantonio Colonna
Marcantonio II Colonna (sometimes spelled Marc'Antonio; 1535 – August 1, 1584), Duke of Tagliacozzo and Duke and Prince of Paliano, was an Italian aristocrat who served as Viceroy of Sicily in the service of the Spanish Crown, general of ...
decided to build a monumental gate in the new water-side entrance of the Cassaro (the same thing was done on the opposite side with
Porta Nuova).
The gate was named after the wife of Colonna,
Felice Orsini
Felice Orsini (; ; 10 December 1819 – 13 March 1858) was an Italian revolutionary and leader of the '' Carbonari'' who tried to assassinate Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.
Early life
Felice Orsini was born at Meldola in Romagna, th ...
.
On 6 July 1582 the groundbreaking ceremony took place.
In the following years the construction was stopped.
In 1602 the new Viceroy
Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba, Duke of Feria, decided to resume the work.
The project was assigned to the senatorial architect
Mariano Smiriglio.
When he died, in 1636, the work was assigned to
Pietro Novelli
Pietro Novelli (March 2, 1603 – August 27, 1647) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Palermo. Also known as ''il Monrealese'' or ''Pietro "Malta" Novelli'' to distinguish him from his father, Pietro Antonio Novelli I ...
.
In 1637 the gate was completed. In 1642 two fountains were added.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the right pillar was almost entirely destroyed by aerial bombing.
Later, a restoration has partially succeeded in restoring Porta Felice to its former glory.
Art
Flanking the pillars on the second floor, facing seaward, are statues representing two female saints:
Santa Ninfa and Santa Cristina. At the top of the pillar are eagles with the coat of arms of the viceroy Colonna. The eagle as well is a symbol of Palermo and the Hapsburg monarchs.
See also
*
Passeggiata delle Cattive
References
External links
*
Image gallery* {{in lang, it}
Felice
Baroque architecture in Palermo
Renaissance architecture in Palermo
1637 establishments in Italy