TEXT The Santi Quaranta Gate
The Santi Quaranta gate was built in 1517, under the high official Andrea Vendramin.The façade is made of Istrian stone, built with three arches. The centre arch is wider and takes the Roman triumphal arch as its model. The winged lion (the symbol of the power of the Venetian Republic) on the front was destroyed during the French occupation and rebuilt afterwards.The gate has a square structure, the ceiling has wooden beams, curved roofing tiles and a cross vault on the inside. The internal walls are plastered and decorated with a pictorial reproduction of the San Marco lion, partially faded by the weather.The S.S Quaranta gate used to have two lift bridges, one for pedestrians and one for carriages, and was always ready to be lifted in case of an enemy attack. As time went by, and especially as the threats passed, the lift bridges were replaced with a brick bridge and decorated with pillars and edges made of Istrian stone. On the main arch, on the outside wall, there’s a phrase written in the Veneto dialect. On the opposite side of the arch, towards the inside of the city, the same phrase is translated into Latin to emphasize the cultural differences between the countryside and the aristocracy living in the centre of Treviso.The gate was named after the forty (quaranta) soldiers who died in Armenia.
