The Porta Asinaria is a gate in the Aurelian Walls

Aurelian Walls

The Aurelian Walls is a line of city walls built between 271 and 275 in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperors Aurelian and Probus....

 of Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Dominated by two protruding tower blocks and associated guard rooms, it was built between 270

270

Year 270 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antiochianus and Orfitus...

 and 273

273

Year 273 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Tacitus and Placidianus...

, at the same time as the Wall itself. It is through this gate that East Roman troops under General Belisarius

Belisarius

Flavius Belisarius was a general of the Byzantine Empire. He was instrumental to Emperor Justinian's ambitious project of reconquering much of the Mediterranean territory of the former Western Roman Empire, which had been lost less than a century previously....

 entered the city in 536, reclaiming the city for the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 from the Ostrogoths.

By the 16th century it had become overwhelmed by traffic. A new breach in the walls was made nearby to create the Porta San Giovanni

Porta San Giovanni (Rome)

Porta San Giovanni is a gate in the Aurelian Wall of Rome, Italy, named after the nearby Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano.-History:It is made up of a single grand arch built for pope Gregory XIII in "opera forse" by Giacomo della Porta or, it is argued, Giacomo del Duca, who had collaborated...

. At this point, the Porta Asinaria was closed to traffic.