Description
The Arco di Riccardo is a Roman arch from almost two thousand years ago in Trieste's old town, on Via del Trionfo, partly built into a house. It may have been one of the gates of Roman Tergeste, or perhaps the entrance to the sanctuary of the Magna Mater.
It has a single archway, 7.2 metres high and 5.3 wide. On either side there were two fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals, but only one can be seen; the ceiling of the passage was coffered.
It was probably built under Octavian, in 33-32 BC, but the decoration dates its present form to almost a century later, between AD 50 and 75.
The name has a story all its own. According to a popular legend it comes from Richard the Lionheart, who on his way back from the Holy Land is said to have been held prisoner in Trieste too. More likely it stood at the entrance to the cardo maximus, and over time “Arco del Cardo” became “Arco di Riccardo”.
It has a single archway, 7.2 metres high and 5.3 wide. On either side there were two fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals, but only one can be seen; the ceiling of the passage was coffered.
It was probably built under Octavian, in 33-32 BC, but the decoration dates its present form to almost a century later, between AD 50 and 75.
The name has a story all its own. According to a popular legend it comes from Richard the Lionheart, who on his way back from the Holy Land is said to have been held prisoner in Trieste too. More likely it stood at the entrance to the cardo maximus, and over time “Arco del Cardo” became “Arco di Riccardo”.