Description
Porta San Nicola, also called Porta Nuova, is one of the gates in the medieval walls of Campobasso, on the southwest side of the old town. Small but full of history, it is one of the six gates the city still carries on its coat of arms.
It looks like a town archway with a stone frame. On the archivolt is the coat of arms of the noble family that ruled the city.
It was built in 1456 at the behest of Count Cola di Monforte. That year an earthquake had reduced the town to rubble, and the count redesigned it as a citadel, with a double ring of walls: the space between the two was covered by vaults, with a sentry walk on top.
Campobasso's coat of arms shows six crenellated towers on a red field, one for each gate of the medieval town: San Nicola's is one of them.
It looks like a town archway with a stone frame. On the archivolt is the coat of arms of the noble family that ruled the city.
It was built in 1456 at the behest of Count Cola di Monforte. That year an earthquake had reduced the town to rubble, and the count redesigned it as a citadel, with a double ring of walls: the space between the two was covered by vaults, with a sentry walk on top.
Campobasso's coat of arms shows six crenellated towers on a red field, one for each gate of the medieval town: San Nicola's is one of them.