Arches of Ancient Porta Nuova

This guide to the Arches of Ancient Porta Nuova in Milan follows the Roman marble busts set into the twin brick arches on Via Manzoni, funerary portraits carved in the first century for graves outside the ancient city. It traces how medieval builders repurposed that Roman graveyard when Frederick Barbarossa's destruction forced Milan to rebuild its walls around eleven seventy, and how the Visconti family later thickened and embellished the gate in the thirteen thirties. Look for the marble tabernacle of the Virgin and city saints on the far side before you pass beneath the arches.