Porta Esquilina Monument

Address: Porta Esquilina (archaeological remains), Esquiline Hill area, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Admission: Outdoor ruin viewing free; museum or guided tour fees may apply

Porta Esquilina was an ancient gate in Rome’s Servian Wall located on the Esquiline Hill, serving as an eastern entrance to the city in the Republican and Imperial periods. It stood at a point where routes from the eastern countryside entered the built-up area of Rome.

Archaeological and literary sources associate the gate with the Servian defensive circuit of the 4th century BC and with later urban developments on the Esquiline. Over the centuries the gate area was altered by successive building phases as the city expanded and walls were modified.

Porta Esquilina sat on the Esquiline Hill close to what is now Rome’s eastern central districts, an area that later included major Roman and medieval monuments. The remains and later reuses are located within the modern city fabric near main radial roads leading east.

The Esquiline area is a short walk from Termini Station and easily reached by multiple bus routes. From central Rome it is a 15-20 minute walk or a short bus/metro ride.

• The Porta Esquilina is best seen as part of a walk through the Esquiline Hill archaeological area-combine it with the nearby Domus Aurea and basilicas.
• Look for the Arch of Gallienus remnants nearby-layers of Rome's expansions sit close together here.