Palatine Towers

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The Palatine Towers (Italian Porte Palatine), also known as Porta Palazzo, is an ancient Roman-medieval building in Turin, northern Italy. One of the four Roman gates of Turin, it gave access from north to the cardus maximus, the second main street of Roman towns. They are located near the city cathedral and Palazzo Reale.

In its current appearance, the building comprise two polygonal towers, of sixteen sides each, and a central gate. Only the latter is an original Roman structure, the towers having been added in the following years. The merlons are from 1404.

The name Porta Palazzo comes from the Latin Porta Palatii ("Palace's Gate"), which referred to the connected Imperial Palace, and which had housed numerous historical figures, including the Lombard kings and Charlemagne, and was later the set of the communal authorities.

In the early 18th century urban renovation, the gate was one of the few ancient landmarks to be saved from destruction, due to the personal intervention of architect Antonio Bertola. From 1724 the annexed edifice was used as jail.

Two bronze statues (copies of older statues) were positioned in front of the monument during the Fascist era.