Porta  Felice

This majestic monument, erected in 1582 by the Viceroy Marcantonio Colonna, was named after his wife, donna Felice Orsini. Situated at the beginning of the Cassaro, opposite and symmetrical to Porta Nuova, it gives access to the city from the seaside and was built to the celebrate the completion of the new 17C artery. Its construction was interrupted in 1584 due to the Viceroy’s departure and completed in 1637 by the architects Mariano Smiriglio, Vincenzo Tedeschi and Pietro Novelli.