The San Gallo Gate was begun according to the plans of
Arnolfo di Cambio in 1284, but was not completed until 1327. In the 13th century, it was one of the most heavily trafficked gates in the city, as it was the most northerly, connected to the road to
Bologna. On the gate, whose keys are still kept in the local history section of
Palazzo Vecchio, an inscription recalls the foundation of the building in 1285 by the captain of the
Guelph party Rolandino da Canossa, while another, later, celebrates the passage of King
Frederick IV of Denmark in 1708, on his journey to
Venice. The exterior is decorated with
Marzocco while the interior
lunette contains traces of a fresco depicting the Madonna and saints. Just outside the door was the complex of the convent of San Gallo, the work of
Giuliano da Sangallo, who got his nickname "da Sangallo" from this much-loved building. It was destroyed, along with many others, to clear the cannons from the walls in preparation for the
siege of Florence (1529-1530). It is also outside this gate, in the stony bed of the
Mugnone that served as a moat, that
Calandrino's search for the
Heliotrope (
Boccaccio,
Decameron VIII, 3) is set. It was also in this area of Porta San Gallo, outside the walls of Florence, that the Strozzi villa was located, which differed from the other houses in the area because it housed a group of courtesans - including
Camilla Pisana - in the exclusive service of the master of the house,
Filippo Strozzi, and his group of "giovani scapestrati". ==References==