Porta Bari, Medieval city gate in Altamura, Italy
Porta Bari is a medieval city gate in Altamura located at Piazza Unità d'Italia, constructed from limestone with characteristic arches and recessed stonework typical of southern Italian fortifications. The structure features a double barrel vault and reinforced side walls that controlled the flow of traffic into the city.
The gate in its present form was built between the 16th and 17th centuries, replacing an earlier gate topped by the small church of SS. Annunziata, first documented in 1490. In 1799, during the Altamuran Revolution, the civic guard welcomed the departmental government outside it on 22 March, and on the night of 9–10 May most Altamurans fled through it from Fabrizio Ruffo's army. It survived the 19th-century demolition of the walls, likely because of its architecture or its link to Palazzo De Angelis-Viti.
The gate's name comes from the nearby city of Bari, the destination of the road that started here. On its facade, a stone cartouche bears a Eucharistic inscription attributed to Saint Alphonsus Liguori, and below it stand statues of Altamura's patron saints, Sant'Irene and San Giuseppe. The stone monstrance above was replaced by an iron one in 1939 for the first diocesan Eucharistic congress.
Porta Bari stands at the start of Via Bari, the first monument most visitors see when entering Altamura's historic centre. The gate and the adjoining Palazzo De Angelis-Viti have not been restored to their original white colour, unlike the cathedral, so the facade still shows its aged stone. Approach on foot from Piazza Unità d'Italia; the area is a working street junction rather than a pedestrian zone.
The stone monstrance above the cartiglio was replaced in 1939 by an iron one for the first diocesan Eucharistic congress; the original was carved from mazzaro, the same limestone as the whole structure. Look also for the statues of Sant'Irene and San Giuseppe at the base.
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