The Porta San Lorenzo formed the gateway into the city for those arriving from the Valleys north of Bergamo and from countries beyond the Alps.
It owes its ancient name to the church that stood on the site and was torn down by the Venetian government to build the Walls.
The second appellation by which it is known, Porta Garibaldi, on the other hand, derives from an important historical event: in June 1859 Giuseppe Garibaldi, under the command of his volunteers the “Hunters of the Alps,” entered Bergamo through this very gate and freed it from Austrian rule.