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Portella Tower in Monte San Biagio: where the Papal States ended and the Kingdom of Naples began
At kilometre 112.300 on the Appian Way, in the territory of Monte San Biagio, two cylindrical towers in brick and travertine face each other on either side of the road. Connecting them was a round arch that passed over the ancient Regina Viarum. Whoever went under it officially entered the Kingdom of Naples. Until 1860–70, the Torre di Portella marked the border between two worlds: on one side the Papal States, on the other the Bourbon domains. Here stood the customs post, the gendarmerie, and even a hut for disinfecting letters, considered at the time to be dangerous vehicles of contagion.
A crossing that witnessed history
The Portella Pass was already strategically important in antiquity. In 315 BC the Romans defeated the Samnites here, in a battle recorded by Livy, who called this place Lautulae, after its many springs. In the 15th century the position was so well fortified that the King of Naples was unable to take it. In 1738 the fifteen-year-old Maria Amalia of Saxony met her future husband Charles III of Naples here. Curiously, on 2 May 1768 something similar happened to Maria Carolina of Austria, who first met Ferdinand IV of Bourbon here. He presented her with a jewel casket. On 11 May 1770, Mozart passed beneath this same arch on his way to Naples.
What can be seen today
Recent excavations have brought to light a section of the original Appian Way paving. The tower structure is still standing, but not open for visits inside.
