ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

--- CONTENT--
The walls of Milan, erected from the Roman era to protect the city, were for several centuries constituted by three concentric circles: the Roman city, perfected by the Emperor Maximian in the 4th century, the medieval one and the most recent one of the Spanish walls, erected during the Spanish domination of the Duchy of Milan. The medieval and Spanish walls are also known as bastions of Milan, demolished between the end of the 19th century and the second post-war period in implementation of the Piano Beruto, the first regulatory plan of Milan.

The traces of these walls are still well readable in the urban system of Milan, so much so that still today we talk about Cerchia dei Navigli to designate the circumvallation realized where once was the Fossa Interna dei Navigli in front of the medieval walls, navigable by barges and covered between the two world wars, and circle of the ramparts to indicate the circumvallation, concentric to the first and wider times. Roman, medieval and Spanish walls have reached the 21st century only a few short sections, which have been saved from demolitions.

Roman Walls

The first Roman wall of the city dates back to about the time when Milan was elevated to the rank of municipium (49 BC), although it was probably built under the principality of Ottaviano Augusto.

The first city gates of Milan, at the time called Mediolanum, were built in Roman republican times at the same time as the city walls. At the end of the cardo and the decuman of Mediolanum the following doors were opened:
Porta Comasina (Lat. Porta Comacina, Porta Cumana or Porta Cumensis), located where the modern street of the Bear is now present. From Porta Comasina they departed the Via Regina, that is the road artery that connected Cremona (Cremona) to Comum (Como: from which the name of the door), and the Via Mediolanum-Bellasium, that put in communication Mediolanum with Bellagio.
Porta Giovia (lat. Porta Jovia), located where there are now the modern Teatro Dal Verme and the demolished church of San Giovanni sul Muro. It had to be named after Jovius, or the epithet of the Emperor Diocletian. From Porta Giovia started the Via Severiana Augusta, a consular Roman road that connected Mediolanum with Lake Maggiore and from here to the pass of the Sempione, and the Via Mediolanum-Bilitio, that put in communication Mediolanum with Luganum (Lugano) passing from Baretium (Varese), from which the name of the road.
Porta Orientalis (Lat. Porta Orientalis), located where the modern Via Manzoni is now present. From Porta Orientale it departed towards the east (from which the name of the door) the road artery that, through Bergomum (Bergamo) and Brixia (Brescia), took to Verona (Verona), the via Gallica. It corresponded to the Decumana Door of the original Roman military camp, the so-called castrum, which then gave rise to the inhabited center of the