An excellent place to start your walk around the ancient city
Corso Porta Borsari, the road leading from the gate, will bring you to the main places of the Old Town: Piazza delle Erbe, Basilica di Santa Anastasia, Palazzo Maffei, and many others.
The history of the monument goes back to the I century AD. The gate played the role of the main entrance to the city and was splendidly decorated. The name of the gateway was changed several times throughout the centuries: the Romans called it Porta Iovia, while in the Middle Ages it was changed to Porta di San Zeno. The current name came from the guardians who carried out their services with special bags (le Borse in Italian). Two arches indicate that the gate was an example of the ‘Italic’ type of complexes used in the Roman empire.
Such an eminent gateway highlights the vital role of Verona in Ancient times: the city was a meeting point of four consular roads: the Via Claudia Augusta, the Via Veronensium, the Via Gallica, and the Via Postumia.