Napoli Gate was built in 1548 in honour of Charles V, who wanted the building of the town walls in Lecce. This arch of thriumph was wanted by the Head of the Terra d’Otranto District to celebrate the power and the importance of the Charles V kingdom. It took the name Naples gate because faced the ancient road that took back and forth to Naples.
In the upper part under the pediment there are some inscriptions celebrating the glorious deeds of the Emperor who conquered America , France, Africa and killed the Turks to defend the catholic religion.
On the pediment framing two couples of columns. On the tympanum there is the Charles V coat of arms with a panoply of military trophies. Signs of the victory as well as the spoils of his enemies are displayed around the two headed eagle symbol of the Emperor and of his power. This impressive gate testifies also the pride of the town to be part of the Charles V kingdom.
Rudiae gate is the oldest gate of the town the one that faces the homonymous neighbourhood.
The original gate collapsed at the end of the seventeen century and was rebuilt by the patrician Prospero Lubelli in 1703. The door consists of a single arch, framed by double columns resting on a high podium and supporting a frieze in which are allocated the busts of the mythical founders of the city: Licio Idomeneo, refugee Trojan hero, transplanted to Lupiae according to tradition, Malennio, and Dauno Euippa. Under bust of Malennio it reads: “I am the king and the founder of the city, Malennio, son and grandson of Dasumno Salo”. Under bust of Dauno you can read the inscription: “I am the king Dauno, son of Malennio, famous for my kingdom and my weapons.” Below the bust of Euippa and the inscription: “Euippa, Dauno’s sister, survived his brother, tightening the ancestral scepter”. The bust of Idomeneo the inscription: “I Lizio Idomeneo, with the marriage with Euippa, got the city that my father had founded, and I enlarged it”.
It is dedicated to Saint Biagio bishop of sebaste(Armenia) considered citizen of Lecce by the hagiographic literature. The gate is the southernmost one of the town and dates back to 1774 included in the renovated walls of the town that bordered the city from the Charles V castle.
The entrance arch , framed by powerful smooth pairs of columns shafts resting on tall pedestals ; it is surmounted by the crest of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon , recognizable in the center , although partly deteriorated and that of the city of Lecce.