This gate takes its name from the very ancient church that once stood nearby, of which, however, only the faintest traces remain.

Before it was built a less impressive gate was used, even closer to the church. That earlier gate is now unfortunately destroyed: the Old Gate of S. Fabiano.

In the entire circuit of the city walls, this is the gate at the lowest altitude above the plain.

From it two important roads led west and southwest. The first linked Trevi to the fortified towns of Cannaiola (formerly Castelnuovo), Fabbri and San Luca, all of which belonged to Trevi, and continued on to Montefalco, Giano, Todi and the Tiber valley. The other led to Faustana where it merged with the natural prehistoric trail toward the pass to the southwest, thus linking Trevi to her forts at S. Lorenzo, Picciche, Fratta and S. Giovanni. This road also crossed the Via Flaminia, the ancient Roman consular road, on its busier side toward Spoleto, Terni and Rome.

The Porta di S. Fabiano was thus the gate through which passed all the workers who went to farm the lands in the plain — but also the gate that met those coming to Trevi with less than peaceful intentions, and it is therefore well fortified with defensive works which today give it a great deal of charm.

Detail