A Tourist in Rome - Porta Latina
| Location: | 41.87654, 12.50244 About 1.5 km southeast of the Circo Massimo metro station, where Via Latina crosses the Aurelian Wall |
| Metro: | About the same distance from Circo Massimo, Pyramide, and San Giovanni. One way to get there is ride the metro to Circo Massimo, walk away from the Colosseum to the bus stop heading toward the Colosseum, get on bus 118 (P.LE Ostiense (MB)) 7 stops to Cameria. From there, it is a short walk to where Via Latina crosses the Aurelian Wall. |
| Time: | about 15 minutes |
| Cost: | Free |
| Hours: | Viewable at any time |
Porta Latina is a single-arched travertine gate with a brick tower on each side in southeast corner of the Aurelian Wall which is where the Via Latina passed out of Rome. The gate is a short walk from/to Porta San Sebastiano, which houses the Museum of the Wall. When I happened to arrive at the spot during the fall of 2014, the gate was covered by scaffolding, being renovated. I just hate it when that happens! Now I'll need to go back to Rome and find it all over again! There's an alpha and omega in the keystone on one side or the other that I'd like to see someday. Anyhow, the two utterly fascinating pictures from my 2014 visit are below. I apparently have no shame at all, posting pictures like these. The 3rd photo is a cast of the chi-rho keystone of Porta Latina on display in the Museum of the Wall.
