Description
The current gate is Renaissance, with a very simple, rounded, arched structure made of blocks of shaped stone. Only the straight side on the left is still visible, while the one on the opposite side is enclosed in the walls of the building at its side. It was originally fitted with a double swing door, which is no longer in situ.
The door gives access to a covered walkway or "seppuorto", whose function is as a link between the buildings and shielded from the road.
Historical Notes
The gate, which dates back to the late 14th century, together with that of San Nicola, formed part of the enlargement of the outer wall of the medieval village. It was the most important of the ancient entrances to the village: opening to the east into the valley of Rio Pezzana, towards Sulmona.
The curtain wall consisted mostly of houses, built onto the rocky crags that together formed a circle to close the centre of the village. This cordon of houses - which also had a protective function - was interrupted by a few large turrets, crenellated on the corners and on the bottom at the front. Just east of Porta Pazziana was an angular tower - later incorporated into a Renaissance palazzo - which protected the entrance to the village on the side of the church of Santa Maria delle Fornaci and Valle Pezzana. The gate opened into an internal courtyard, whose walls are distinct from the 16th-century houses with an external staircase protected by a wooden roof.
