Flavio Gioia Squares and Portanova
 

From a modern point of view the two squares (Portanova and Flavio Gioia) are located in two different areas. Originally, they rapresented a single place and favoured the morphology of the land with a slight slope towards the sea. For this reason Portanova is in a slightly more raised position, while the so-called Rotonda is situated on a level ground downhill.
Until the beginning of the 19th century Salerno was closed in its walls and corresponded to the present historical centre, delimited in the west by Porta dell'Annunziata (the Gate of Our Lady of the Annunciation) and in the east by Porta Nuova (New Gate). While the first was demolished together with the walls, the second still exists and is situated laterally towards the sea between Flavio Gioia Square and Portanova Square.
It has eighteenth-century workmanship, as it was built to replace another previous gate in 1754, by the artist Ragozzino. On its top a magnificent statue is located. It is one of the works of the sculptor Francesco Pagano, made in 1766 and representing Saint Matthew, the patron and protector of the city.
Outside the walls, on the eastern side, there was a large plain where the modern city developed. Here the famous Fair of Saint Matthew took place. Both in the Middle Ages and in the modern age it was considered one of the most prestigious fairs of the whole of Southern Italy as it attracted a lot of merchants from all parts.
For this occasion the area was equipped with huts for the deposit and the exhibition of every kind of goods. However, on this plain capital sentences were also executed.
For this reason just outside the historical centre, on the right side of the square it is possible to see a mural painting dating back to the end of the 17th century, the so-called the Virgin of the Graces (Madonna delle Grazie), that is a votive niche where convicts stopped for their last prayers.
On the opposite side there is the church of San Pietro in Vinculis, in the past seat of the homonymous confraternity which helped prisoners.
It is rich in works of art such as the valuable main altar with marble drawings and Baroque sculptures and a painting by Michele Ricciardi of 1724.