The entrance gate to the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli, the object of this restoration, is located at the main facade of the Palazzo San Giacomo which is the town hall of the city housing the Mayor’s office.

The gate dates back tocirca 1741, the year in which the building underwent a significant transformation. A series of restorations and the demolition of the adjoining hospital, which was to make way for the Ministries of the Bourbon government, transformed the facade of the Basilica which was previously independent and is now hidden by the Bourbon gate.

The Iron Gate is made up of individual forged and welded decorative elements including gilded monstrances (containers for the sacred host) which refer to Christian symbolism, all enclosed within a border decorated with a meandering motif interspersed with studs. The presumably remodeled upper closure bears the inscription of the confraternità brotherhood.

The present deterioration of the gate is due to decades of neglect and typical of iron alloys and their principles of oxidation, chromatic alterations and encrustations.