Piazza Portanova is the access to the historic centre. The door, rebuilt in the eighteenth century, leads into the beautiful and scenic Piazza Flavio Gioia, known as the Rotonda due to the arched shape of the buildings that form the backdrop.
In Roman times, villas and industrial establishments crowded the Portanova district, which today instead shows a marked commercial vocation.
Piazza Portanova is in fact located between the beginning of via Mercanti and corso Vittorio Emanuele, the main shopping streets in Salerno. The square takes its name from the presence of a gate located at the beginning of via dei Mercanti, destroyed by a flood and then rebuilt "nova", to make way for Castel Terracena.
The gate that until the 19th century closed the walls of the eastern border of the city is located on the side towards the sea, between Piazza Portanova and Piazza Flavio Gioia. It was built in 1754, to replace a previous one, by the master Ragozzino. At its top is a grandiose statue of St. Matthew, the patron saint and protector of the city, by the sculptor Francesco Pagano.