Porta Ticinese (formerly known as Porta Cicca, and during Napoleonic rule as Porta Marengo)[1] is a former city gate of Milan, Italy. The gate, facing south-west, was first created with the Spanish walls of the city, in the 16th century, but the original structure was later demolished and replaced in the early 19th century. The name "Porta Ticinese" is used both to refer to the gate proper and to the surrounding district, part of the Zone 6 administrative division. In the same district there is also a medieval gate with the same name, although in common speech the name "Porta Ticinese" is usually assumed to refer to the 19th century gate.
The gate of Porta Ticinese is one of the landmark buildings of Milan and a popular tourist attraction.[1]
The name "Porta Ticinese" means "Gate to the Ticino", referred to the Ticino river, that traverses the Po Valley south-west of Milan. The name "Porta Cicca" came about during the Spanish rule of Milan in the 16th century, "Cicca" being a distortion of the Spanish word chica, i.e., "small". The name "Porta Marengo", which was used in the 19th century, refers to the village of Marengo located south-west of Milan, now called Spinetta Marengo, scene of the Battle of Marengo between the French army commanded by Napoleon and an Austrian army.
The gate
Porta Ticinese before 1859. Illustration by S. Mazza, 1886.
A "Porta Ticinese" was already part of the medieval walls of Milan (12th century); the medieval gate is one of the few remnants of the medieval walls that are still in place, and it is located in the same area as the modern "Porta Ticinese", but closer to the city centre (as the medieval walls enclosed a smaller area than the Spanish walls). The current location of the gate (in a plaza that is now called "Piazzale XIV Maggio") was established during the Spanish rule, in the 16th century. In the early 19th century, most of the Spanish gates were demolished and replaced with new structures that were meant to serve as toll-gates. This was also the case with Porta Ticinese. The new structure was designed by Luigi Cagnola in neoclassic style, and built between 1801 and 1814.
Cagnola's structure consists of massive pillars and ionic order columns surmounted by a large tympanum, and is considered one of the prominent examples of neoclassical architecture of Milan.[2]
In 1815, after the Napoleonic wars, an inscription was added to the tympanum which reads "PACI POPVLORVM SOSPITAE" (in Latin, "to peace that frees peoples").[3]
The district
Coat of arms of the Porta Ticinese rione
The area surrounding Porta Ticinese is a historic quartiere of Milan; it has its coat of arms, a three-legged red stool on a silver background.
The district is part of the Navigli area of Milan, which is rich of monuments, tourist attractions, night life, and more, and qualifies as one of the most important areas of Milan outside the historic centre. It includes the notable Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, a basilica that was established in the Middle Ages and restored several times through the centuries, so that the original romanesque structure has been complemented with Renaissance elements. Sant'Eustorgio is located in a well known city park called Parco delle Basiliche, which also includes another prominent basilica, that of San Lorenzo. Nearby are also the Colonne di San Lorenzo, which are among the best preserved Roman ruins in Milan. The plaza where the Colonne di San Lorenzo are located is also one of the key places of the so-called "Milanese movida", i.e., night-life.[4]
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway.
The Colonne di San Lorenzo or Columns of San Lorenzo is a group of ancient Roman ruins, located in front of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in central Milan, region of Lombardy, northern Italy.
The Naviglio Grande is a canal in Lombardy, northern Italy, connecting the Ticino river near Tornavento to the Porta Ticinese dock, also known as the Darsena, in Milan. It drops 34 m (112 ft) over 49.9 km (31.0 mi). It varies in width from 22 to 50 m from Tornavento to Abbiategrasso, dropping to 15 m (49 ft) between there and Milan. Initially it carries 63 cubic metres per second (2,200 cu ft/s), 116 outlets take water to irrigate 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi) leaving the canal 12 m (39 ft) wide and carrying 12 m3/s (420 cu ft/s) as it enters the dock.
Italy has a very broad and diverse architectural style, which cannot be simply classified by period or region, due to Italy's division into various small states until 1861. This has created a highly diverse and eclectic range in architectural designs. Italy is known for its considerable architectural achievements, such as the construction of aqueducts, temples and similar structures during ancient Rome, the founding of the Renaissance architectural movement in the late-14th to 16th century, and being the homeland of Palladianism, a style of construction which inspired movements such as that of Neoclassical architecture, and influenced the designs which noblemen built their country houses all over the world, notably in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America during the late-17th to early 20th centuries.
The Basilica of San Lorenzo Maggiore is a Roman Catholic church in Milan, Northern Italy. Located within the city's ring of navigli, it is one of the oldest churches in the city, originally built in Roman times, but subsequently rebuilt several times over the centuries. It is close to the medieval Porta Ticinese and near the Basilicas Park, which includes both the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, as well as the Roman Colonne di San Lorenzo.
Porta San Pancrazio is one of the southern gates of the Aurelian walls in Rome, Italy.
The Milan amphitheatre was a Roman amphitheatre in the ancient city of Mediolanum, the modern Milan in Northern Italy.
The Portinari Chapel is a Renaissance chapel at the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, Milan, northern Italy. Commenced in 1460 and completed in 1468, it was commissioned by Pigello Portinari as a private sepulchre and to house a silver shrine given by Archbishop Giovanni Visconti in 1340 containing the relic head of St. Peter of Verona, to whom the chapel is consecrated. The architect is unknown, the traditional attribution to Michelozzo having been succeeded with equal uncertainty by attributions to either Filarete or Guiniforte Solari, architect of the apses of the Certosa di Pavia and the church of San Pietro in Gessate in Milan.
Porta Sempione is a city gate of Milan, Italy. The name is used both to refer to the gate proper and to the surrounding district (quartiere), a part of the Zone 1 division, including the major avenue of Corso Sempione. The gate is marked by a landmark triumphal arch called Arco della Pace, dating back to the 19th century, although its origins can be traced back to a gate of the Roman walls of Milan.
Porta Venezia is one of the historical gates of the city of Milan, Italy. In its present form, the gate dates back to the 19th century; nevertheless, its origins can be traced back to the medieval and even the Roman walls of the city.
Porta Magenta, formerly known as Porta Vercellina, was one of the city gates of Milan, Italy. The gate was established in the 9th century, with the Roman walls of the city; it was moved with the medieval and Spanish walls, and was finally demolished in the 19th century. The phrase "Porta Magenta" is now used to refer to the district ("quartiere") where the gate used to be; the district is part of the Zone 7 administrative division of Milan, west of the city centre.
The city Milan, Italy, has had three different systems of defending walls. The oldest, Roman walls were developed in two stages, the first in the Republican and the second in the Imperial era. The second wall system was realized in the Middle Ages, after the destruction of the city by Frederick I Barbarossa. Finally, the latest wall system was built by the Spanish rulers. While very little remains of these walls, their structure is clearly reflected in the urbanistic layout of the city. In particular, modern Milan has two roughly circular rings of streets, namely the "Cerchia dei Navigli" and the "Cerchia dei Bastioni", which essentially correspond to the Medieval and Spanish walls, respectively. Note that a third ring of roads just beyond the Inner Ring Road, called the External Ring Road, does not owe itself to any old city walls; but was part of the 1884 Beruto Plan for the city of Milan, created and named after a municipal engineer and public servant to the local city government.
The Zone 1 of Milan, since 2016 officially Municipality 1 of Milan, is one of the 9 administrative divisions of Milan, Italy.
Parco Papa Giovanni Paolo II, best known by its historic name Basilicas Park is a city park of Milan, Italy, located in Zone 1. It owes its name to the fact that it connects two major basilicas, the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio. The park has an overall area of 40.700 m2, bisected by Via Molino delle Armi, one of the avenues comprising the Cerchia dei Navigli ring road.
Neoclassical architecture in Milan encompasses the main artistic movement from about 1750 to 1850 in this northern Italian city. From the final years of the reign of Maria Theresa of Austria, through the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and the European Restoration, Milan was in the forefront of a strong cultural and economic renaissance in which Neoclassicism was the dominant style, creating in Milan some of the most influential works in this style in Italy and across Europe. Notable developments include construction of the Teatro alla Scala, the restyled Royal Palace, and the Brera institutions including the Academy of Fine Arts, the Braidense Library and the Brera Astronomical Observatory. Neoclassicism also led to the development of monumental city gates, new squares and boulevards, as well as public gardens and private mansions. Latterly, two churches, San Tomaso in Terramara and San Carlo al Corso, were completed in Neoclassical style before the period came to an end in the late 1830s.
The Medieval Porta Ticinese is a gate of the former 12th-century Walls of Milan; it is located at the intersection of the Corso di Porta Ticinese and Via Edmondo de Amicis and Via Molino di Armi in the city center of Milan, region of Lombardy, Italy. This is one of the three remaining medieval gates of Milan. The others are Porta Nuova and the Pusterla di Sant'Ambrogio.
The Zone 6 of Milan, since 2016 officially Municipality 6 of Milan, is one of the 9 administrative divisions of Milan, Italy.
Ticinese is the adjective form of Ticino and can refer to:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Milan:
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