Porte d'Italie, Toulon, Historical stone gate in Toulon, France
The Porte d'Italie is a city gate with a white stone facade in the Tuscan style, built as part of Toulon's eastern fortification. The structure features a vaulted passage with four square bays that lead toward a central pavilion.
The gate was built starting in 1787 and completed in 1791 according to fortification designs of that era, replacing an older entrance called Saint Lazare. It became part of the updated defensive system protecting the city's eastern approach.
The gate received its current name in 1800 after Napoleon Bonaparte passed through with his army heading to Italy. This historical moment gave the structure its identity and remains part of how locals remember the city's connection to that era.
The gate stands at the eastern edge of the old city and is easy to reach from outside the walls. Inside, you can see former guard rooms and holding cells that show how the military structure worked.
The gate includes a working drawbridge mechanism and casemates built into the rampart walls in 1820 to house soldiers. These underground chambers reveal how the fortification was designed to support extended occupation.
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