Panorama showing the Porta Maggiore, or Porta Prenestina, one of the ancient city gates in the Aurelian Walls of Rome.

Porta Maggiore - Porta Prenestina - Rome visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Porta Maggiore - Porta Prenestina' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Roma.

Porta Maggiore ('Large Gate, also known as Porta Prenestina) dates from the 3rd century and is one of the 18 ancient gates in the Aurelian Walls that were built around Rome between 271 and 275 by Emperors Aurelian and Probus. The walls ran for 12.5 miles, they were 3.5m thick and 8m high with a square tower every 100 Roman feet. In the 5th Century the height of the walls was increased to 18m. In all the walls had 383 towers. The gates are close to Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, a little east of San Giovanni in Laterano.

Porta Maggiore predates the Aurelian Wall by over 200 years, being built by Emperor Claudius in 52 AD. It is made of white travertine and contains an inscription praising Claudius, Vespasian, and Titus for their work on the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus aquaduts that ran over the top (the remains of these two aqueducts are still visible on top of Porta Maggiore.

Porta Maggiore was originally known as Porta Prenestina, after the via Prenestina which linked Rome with Praeneste (now called Palestrina). Near to the gates is the Tomb of the Baker.

Metro: Porta Maggiore