Porta Urbica, ancient city gate of Syracuse, Italy

Porta Urbica is the excavated remnant of an ancient gate in the Dionysian walls of Ortygia, Syracuse. What remains are the foundations of two square towers, each about 8.35 metres wide, flanking a passage that probably had two doors. The site lies in the excavation on Via XX Settembre.

Dionysius I had Ortygia ringed with walls at the end of the 5th century BC, after the first war against Carthage, as a fortified base for his campaigns. The gate belonged to this circuit, which also ran across the mainland to the Euryalus castle. The surviving section was excavated in 1977/78 during sewer works.

The visible remains lie in a trench opened during drainage works on Via XX Settembre in 1977–78, and they are the only surviving trace of Ortygia's Dionysian walls. The two tower bases, about 8.35 m wide, flanked a passage that probably had two doors and led to a road linking the temples of Apollo and Athena.

The remains lie in a sunken excavation on Via XX Settembre, identifiable by the two tower bases at street level. The site was uncovered during sewer works in 1977/78, so it sits below the modern road surface; look down into the dig rather than for standing masonry. It is an open excavation, not a staffed monument.

The gate was uncovered in 1977 during sewer works, and excavation continued into 1978. It is the only surviving remnant of the Dionysian walls on Ortygia, since the landward circuit ran all the way to the Euryalus castle. The visible masonry consists of two quadrangular tower bases about 8.35 metres wide.