Discover Porta Rugo

The gate is a square masonry tower pierced by an arched passage, plain and defensive, with no decoration beyond the Venetian lion of St Mark set on it.

Its form is functional: thick walls, a single opening, and enough height to command the road below.

What is architecturally interesting is its position. The gate sits at the edge of the spur, and immediately beyond it the ground falls away, so the wall line here needed very little help from masonry -- the topography did the work.

The streets inside the gate are the oldest and steepest part of Belluno, narrow and stepped in places.