Historical monuments

Porta San Francesco is a Renaissance city gate, one of the surviving remnants of Parma's destroyed city walls. It is located along Viale Vittoria and Piazzale Tommaso Barbieri, in the Oltretorrente district. It was built in brick and has now been restored.

Historical Features

The history of the gate began in 1261, when the Municipality of Parma extended the city walls southwards, incorporating the Capo di Ponte area. In that context, the original Porta San Francesco was opened, located approximately where the neoclassical Barriera Bixio stands today, flanking the gate since 1866. The fortification took its name from the street of the same name (now Strada Nino Bixio), due to the presence of the Friars Minor and the Oratory of the Confraternity of “Francesco il piccolo” with an adjoining hostel for pilgrims.

This gate was of fundamental strategic importance, as it provided south-western access to the city. It represented the exit towards the Apennine possessions and towards the Via Francigena. It was travelled by numerous pilgrims (Romei) heading to Rome from the north, which is why it was called the ‘glorious’ gate.

Around the middle of the 16th century, as part of the reconstruction of the city walls for the defensive needs of the duchy, the medieval Porta San Francesco was closed. The current gate was built in Renaissance style between 1562 and 1563 at the behest of Duke Ottavio Farnese. The new construction was positioned slightly further west than the previous one, resulting in it being offset from the road.

In 1908, the City Council decided to demolish the entire city wall in the south-west area, but the 16th-century gate was preserved. In 1995, the Renaissance building was restored and granted for use to the ‘Famija Pramzana’ recreational and cultural club. Today, it is a meeting place for some of the area's cultural organisations. The building stands isolated to the west of the Barriera Bixio, following the demolition of the walls.

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Architectural Features

The Porta San Francesco gate is mainly made of brick.

The External Prospectus

The exterior façade is almost entirely clad in brick and features a large central entrance portal with a round arch, framed by bricks arranged in raised stripes. Above the arch, you can see the slots that originally housed the bolts of the drawbridge.

On either side of the main portal are symmetrically placed:

• Two pilasters with horizontal bands crowned by plastered Tuscan capitals.
• These pilasters support the high projecting string course cornice.
• Two smaller secondary arched entrances, surrounded by stone frames.
• Above the secondary entrances are two large coats of arms in relief.
• Further out, there are two more pairs of pilasters.
• At the ends are the ruins of the ancient walls with a scarp pattern, also made of brick.

Al di sopra dell'alta cornice classica si sviluppa il primo piano, suddiviso in tre sezioni. La parte centrale in mattoni è coronata da un cornicione intonacato in aggetto, su cui sono posizionate due statue di putti. Ai lati spiccano simmetricamente due ampie volute rinascimentali. Queste volute culminano nei piedistalli di due grandi statue che raffigurano rispettivamente le allegorie della Legge e della Giustizia.

Above the high classical cornice is the first floor, divided into three sections. The central brick section is crowned by a projecting plastered cornice, on which two statues of cherubs are positioned. On either side, two large Renaissance volutes stand out symmetrically. These volutes culminate in the pedestals of two large statues representing the allegories of Law and Justice, respectively.

The Home Front

The interior face of the door is entirely plastered and completely devoid of decoration. Unlike the exterior, the main entrance portal with its round arch is slightly off-centre, and the side entrances are not symmetrical. However, recent studies have shown that the door was designed according to the golden ratio. Four rectangular windows open at the top. On the left side, there is an external staircase leading to the first-floor terrace.