Porta Leoni

Porta Leoni is a Roman city gate in Verona, standing at the southern end of the ancient cardo maximus. Its route connected Verona with Bologna and Aquileia. The original structure formed a roughly seventeen-metre square, rising about thirteen metres beside the city walls. Double arches, upper galleries, and two polygonal towers shaped this monumental entrance.

Built around the mid-first century BC, the gate later received renovations during the imperial period. Magistrates P. Valerius, Q. Caecilius, Q. Servilius, and P. Cornelius oversaw its construction. Tuff and brick formed lower sections, while white Valpolicella stone covered the upper parts. An exedra with twisted columns enriched the façade, echoing the design of Porta Borsari.

Only half of the inner façade and the foundations remain visible today. A thirteenth-century building incorporates portions of the ancient structure into its outer walls. Below street level, the archaeological area reveals a tower base and fragments of courtyard paving. An architrave inscription links the gate with Verona’s walls, roads, and sewerage system. The nearby Roman sarcophagus bears two lions, the detail that gives this surviving entrance its familiar name.