Porta Tufi - Siena - Tuscany

The Porta Tufi or Tufi Gate is one of the surviving portals in the medieval walls of Siena. It is located on Strada di Tufi, now Via Pier Andrea Mattioli, in Siena, Tuscany region, Italy. It stands on a walled peninsula near Sant'Agostino, which opens onto a road leading to the south of the town. History The gate, built largely of brick, was built in 1325-1326 during the construction of the outermost of the medieval walls. The design is attributed to Agnolo di Ventura. The portal has three round arches, with a larger central travertine marble arch. The flanking guardhouses have crenellated roofs. The external central arch is topped by a circular marble relief of the Roman Catholic IHS Christogram in a sun. The inner wall has an icon of the Madonna. On the corner of nearby buildings, plaques announce the entrance to the Contrada of Tartuca. A recently added plaque in the gate recalls that Enea Piccolomini and Giovanni Benedetti entered through this portal in July 1552 with a small army to aid a Siena revolt against the Spanish-Florentine rule, which ended with the Battle of Spain just a few years later. to Marciano.

Willem Vandenameele