Belluno was probably founded between 220 and 200 BC by the Romans who chased the Celtic peoples who lived in these lands to the north. The city, at the time, was surrounded by high walls of which, however, only traces remain in some sections.

For the most curious, we point out the painting by Domenico Falce (1619-1697) with the "View of Belluno in 1690" where the ancient northern and southern walls are clearly visible interspersed with a series of small towers. To truly symbolize the Roman Fortifications, instead, are some of the famous entrance doors to the inhabited center;

The Porta Dojona takes its name from the nearby tower (Torrione Dojon) with which it was a fortified complex. It was Vecello da Cusighe in 1289 who raised this impressive arch, for the bishop-count Adelgerio da Vili. Inside we find a stone slab, walled above the arch, to witness the dominion of Ezzelino da Romano, this work is also the oldest reproduction of the city emblem.

The Porta Rugo is characterized by an ogival arch, or pointed arch and the open area upward, typical of all medieval structures. It represented the southern part of the wall structure, and a fundamental passage that led to the river port of Borgo Piave and Borgo Prà.

Porta Dante in Roman times was a small service door, called Ussolo, meaning little door. The stone coat of arms that still appears today was made together with the Porta Reniera, in 1669 by the Venetian rector Daniele Renier, from which it took its name. The current structure dates back to 1865, built at the end of the Habsburg domination in Belluno, as a patriotic symbol of the rediscovered Italian cultural unity.