Porta Pretoria, Aosta, Italy

Situated on the eastern section of the walls, Porta Pretoria provided the main access to the city of Augusta Praetoria. It was built in 25 BC after the defeat of the Salassians by Terenzio Varrone. It had three openings, which are still visible today: the central one for carriages and the side openings for pedestrians. The area inside the openings was used as a troop parade court, in its southern section, the land was dug up as far as the level of the ground during the Roman era.

On the outer facing openings you can still see the grooves from where the gates were lowered at night. The eastern facade still has some of the marble slabs that once covered the entire monument, on the inside it consists of blocks of puddingstone. In the Middle Ages there was a chapel dedicated to the Most Blessed Trinity resting against Porta Praetoria (now only an alcove of this remains), for many centuries, the same Porta Praetoria went by its name.

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Aosta Valley Tourism

User Reviews

Ofek Shaked (4 years ago)
Beautiful spot in the middle of aosta, history is shining here and you can feel and see how it was back in the old days.

Hamida Khan (6 years ago)
Impressive Roman gates. Pedestrianised streets. Plenty of cafes and ice cream shops to choose from. Lovely gift shops also. Great scenic views.

Kat Beatriz (6 years ago)
Beautiful gate to the old Roman area in Aosta city. There’s a tow of cafes as soon as you enter. Tourist-friendly and well kept.

Kyoung Kim (6 years ago)
Antique atmosphere with many shops and restaurants. Worth to go.

Кирилл Волошин (6 years ago)
worth visiting only if you're in the city ) nice starting of old town's footway

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

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The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.

The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.

The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.

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