Porta Sant’Agostino is also one of the ancient gates providing access to the Upper Town, located in the city’s western Venetian walls, and it takes its name from the adjacent church of Sant’Agostino.
This gate, just like the others in the city, has a rich and ancient history, dating back to the period of the Venetian domination in the 16th century. It is one of the four main gates that give access to the Upper Town, together with Porta San Giacomo, Porta San Lorenzo and Porta Sant’Alessandro.
Porta Sant’Agostino is a really characteristic access point leading to the heart of the old city, offering a suggestive journey back in time, through the narrow, cobbled streets and medieval alleys of Bergamo.
Above the gate there is an engraving of San Marco’s lion, which has a peculiar tail pointing upwards as a sign of non-belligerence, and an open gospel in its paws. In fact, when we consider Bergamo, which had 369 years of annexation from 1428 to 1797 to the Venetian Republic, we cannot expressly speak of domination, but rather of an almost spontaneous annexation to the western expansionist aims of the Venetians.