The Pretoria Gate probably stood at the entrance of the current Via Palestro, but no traces of this have ever been found. Instead, it is certain that the street followed the route of the Decumanus Maximum, because during various restoration work the antique Roman paving of the ducumano was found, slightly wider than 5 metres, where many cardines minores converged.
Next to the entrance of Via Palestro, the building that houses the branch of the IstitutoBancario San Paolo was built from 1982 to 1986. During the works, excavation was carried out that brought to the light interesting traces of Roman Ivrea. There are three different building levels that go back to the Roman era from the I century to the Flavian Age. Besides the ceramic and brick artifacts, the foundations of a building, most likely used ad horreum, meaning a warehouse or a granary.
Running along Via Palestro you can reach Piazza di Città and entering Via dellaCattedrale there is an uphill road at the end of which you can observe the terracotta rocky spur that is a testimony of the presence of the Roman theatre in this area, probably built in I century AD, discovered in 1800 but then demolished and covered by new constructions.
By crossing the public gardens you reach Hotel “La Serra”, where construction works in 1969-70 revealed the remains of a segment of road, foundations of houses along it and a segment of sewers, dated back to the I century AD. The segment of road that was found was one of the cardines minores and under it there was the main sewer, connected to drains from the homes located on the side of the street. One of these connections is still in the same condition it was originally. A tunnel delimited by the thick walls was paved with bricks recovered from previous buildings.
Culture Department
Ivrea Municipality