Porta della Portella

Porta della Portella is the only surviving gate of Fiuggi's hilltop walls. It gave access to the fortified core of the ancient settlement of Felcia and was restructured in the communal period together with its defensive tower. Local accounts connect its name with an archaic, pre-Roman term also found in neighbouring hill towns.

Why it matters

Three gates once pierced the walls of Felcia; Porta dell'Olmo was demolished in the early twentieth century and the gate of the Colle in 1960. The Portella preserves a trace of the town's defensive fabric and its later communal history. The official local history describes the ancient settlement as an Ernici citadel, with the arx at its centre.

What to notice

The gate's position on Via della Portella marks the entrance to the area identified as the arx, known today as the Barriera. The gate and its tower were restructured during the communal period. Local accounts distinguish this major entrance from a smaller medieval gate on the south side of Via della Portella.

Context and history

According to Fiuggi's local history, the Ernici citadel of Felcia occupied the hill between the fifth and fourth centuries BC. Porta della Portella is the only one of the settlement's three gates to survive. Its name is considered archaic and pre-Roman in local accounts, which note related uses at Alatri, Ferentino and Veroli.