Porta Nuova is a monumental city gate of Palermo. It represents the entrance of the Cassaro (the main and most ancient street of the city) from Corso Calatafimi (the way to Monreale) and is located beside Palazzo dei Normanni, royal palace of Palermo.
According to the historian Tommaso Fazello the original gate was built in the 15th century. After the Charles V's conquest of Tunis, the Emperor came to Sicily. He entered in Palermo through this gate on 5 September 1535. In order to commemorate this event, the Senate of Palermo decreed to rebuild the gate in a more sumptuous style. The Viceroy of Sicily Marcantonio Colonna set off the construction in 1583. The gate was completed in 1584.
The gate was destroyed in 1667 because of a fire erupted inside the warehouse of the building. The Senate of Palermo commissioned the architect Gaspare Guercio to rebuild the gate. The work was completed in 1669.
The facade leading to the Cassaro has the typical style of the triumphal arches. The facade leading to the Corso Calatifimi and Piazza Indipendenza presents four big telamones depicting the Moors defeated by Charles V.
References:The Roman Theatre of Mérida is a construction promoted by the consul Vipsanius Agrippa in the Roman city of Emerita Augusta, capital of Lusitania (current Mérida). It was constructed in the years 16 to 15 BCE. One of the most famous and visited landmarks in Spain, the Roman Theatre of Mérida is regarded as a Spanish cultural icon and was chosen as one of the 12 Treasures of Spain.
The theatre has undergone several renovations, notably at the end of the 1st century or early 2nd century CE (possibly during the reign of Emperor Trajan), when the current facade of the scaenae frons was erected, and another in the time of Constantine I (between 330 and 340), which introduced new decorative-architectural elements and a walkway around the monument. Following the theatre"s abandonment in Late Antiquity, it was slowly covered with earth, with only the upper tiers of seats (summa cavea) remaining visible.