Porta Garibaldi is one of the gates of the city of Marsala, famous for the passage of Giuseppe Garibaldi and the Thousand on 11 May 1860.
What to see
The gate was originally called «Porta di Mare», because it faced the sea, and was built in 1685 at the wish of the king of Spain and Sicily, Charles II, to strengthen the defensive system and give lustre to the city, in place of the old fifteenth-century gate, dilapidated and small. Beneath the cornice a large Latin inscription entrusts to God the keeping of the entrance and exit of the city; in the upper part is a crowned eagle, symbol of the Habsburgs of Spain, and at the sides are aedicule-shaped recesses which in the past must have housed statues. Inside is a large atrium surmounted by a large lantern. Originally the sides of the gate were open and housed small shops and a corridor with a tunnel leading to a staircase, from which one climbed to the little terrace above the gate; these sides were later closed.
On 11 May 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi landed at Marsala with the Thousand and, entering through the gate, declared the city «free», no longer part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; after his departure the city decided to dedicate the famous arch to the hero of two worlds. Until shortly before the Second World War the gate had an arched iron grille, later used to make war material. The route to the terrace was rediscovered after restoration and safety works ended a few weeks before Christmas 2018, and the municipal administration has expressed the intention of restoring access to it. In 1961, for the centenary of Italian unification, the gate was crossed by the Giro d'Italia.
Visiting
The gate, today well preserved, is a tourist destination and the symbol of Marsala's historic centre. The sources consulted do not say whether the terrace is already accessible: this should be checked with the Comune.
Our editors' tip
Stop in the inner atrium, beneath the large lantern, and try speaking: the voice, according to the sources, carries throughout the whole area.
