The Uzeda gate is named after the Spanish viceroy Giovanni Francesco Paceco, duke of Uzeda. Built by the Duke of Camastra in lava stone in 1695, after the eruption of 1669 and the earthquake of 1693, it is one of a number of new gates that open gaps in the defensive walls built by Ferramolino in the 16th century.
The gate connects the clerics' seminary with the archbishop's palace and is the entrance to the Piazza Duomo for those coming from Via Dusmet and the naval arches. Aligned with the long straight stretch of Via Etnea, it frames the perspective at the end of which is Mount Etna. The marble crowning encloses in the central niche the bust of St. Agatha who is facing and protecting the city. Crossing the arch one can see the votive shrine of the flogged Christ that tradition says miraculously escaped a bombing, a splinter struck the Christ's forehead, during the last war.
Map
PORTA UZEDA
Piazza del Duomo, 95121 Catania CT
