San Fratello Gate in Piedimonte Etneo
The San Fratello arch in Piedimonte Etneo, also known as Porta San Fratello, are two large monumental pillars that characterize the perspective axis of the main street of the Etna village.
It was built in the first half of the eighteenth century at the behest of Ferdinando Francesco Gravina Cruyllas, architect of the great eighteenth-century expansion of the town.
A local tradition explains the origin of the name Porta San Fratello.
The portal is made of large ashlars of hammered lava stone , in Arab-Sicilian style. It is made up of two large pillars with a square section, which reach a height of 13 metres, with the upper ends in the shape of a pyramid, surmounted by two spheres and connected by a valuable wrought iron arch with a large lantern in the centre. Originally the portal was attached to the houses on the two fronts by means of volutes or appendages which were demolished in 1936 in order to facilitate pedestrian passage on the pavement.
