015.

Porta S. Spirito

Located at the opposite end of Via della Lungara from Porta Settimiana, Plate 14, is Porta S. Spirito, named after the nearby church of S. Spirito in Sassia (1) whose bell tower appears above the gate in this print. This entrance to Borgo was designed by Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane for Pope Paul III (1534-49). Both Vasi and Nolli show the gate recessed between two large protecting bastions of the Borgo wall. This is the first of the city gates whose design is based on a triumphal arch motif (see Plates 1, 12). Unfortunately it was never finished, though a plain top story was added in the early 20th century, giving the scheme its proper proportions. As can be seen on Nolli, the plan of the gate has a subtle concave curve facing the entry side. This repeats the concavity of an earlier Sangallo building with triumphal arch motif, the papal Zecca (mint) in Banchi, Plate 109. The building visible through the gate at the very end of the street is Palazzo Serristori (NN 1255). With the number 2 at top left Vasi marks one of the buildings in Villa Barberini (which appears L-shaped on the Nolli plan). At the lower left Vasi shows the beginning of a steep ramp or salita (3) leading up to the church of S. Onofrio on the Janiculum hill, Plate 123A. The area outside the gate has been substantially altered as a result of the modern traffic artery that tunnels through the hill to Porta Cavalleggieri, Plate 16.