The Porta Murata is one of the old city gates in Viterbo. This gate is called thus because it was bricked up (murata) for almost four centuries. It is also known under the name Porta Ferentina.
Porta Murata Viterbo
Useful information
The address of the Porta Murata is Via San Bonaventura/Porta Vallia, snc. The gate can be viewed from the outside.
History and description
The original name of the Porta Murata (“Walled Gate”) was Porta di Capo di Piaggia. Later, this city gate was renamed the Porta di Castel Sant’Angelo because it was the passageway to the Piazza della Rocca and the Castel Sant’Angelo.
It was around the year 1540 that the Porta Murata was bricked up.
However, it was reopened in 1920 and the then city administrator renamed it Porta Ferentina, since it was oriented towards Ferento.
The gate is characterized by two arches, that are, however, not of equal height.
On the inside you can see a bronze inscription from 1962. It is dedicated to the Franciscan saint San Bonaventura, born in nearby Civita di Bagnoregio, for whom the street is also named. As a teenager, the saint was cured of a dangerous illness by St. Francis himself, and the street named after him runs along the wall of St. Francis Basilica.