On the original Roman road that led to Pavia from Milan, what’s left of Porta Ticinese today is only a part of the design that was submitted by Luigi Cagnola. His ideas included bastions and a square in the direction of the village of San Gottardo between vast buildings that were to house the local market. The project was begun in 1801 to celebrate the victory of Napoleon at the battle of Marengo in 1800 and the arrival of the French troops, but construction halted in 1814 after only the gate and the two tollgates at the sides were completed.
