Its name derives from the ivory of the elephant that is the emblem of the district. The gate is original Etruscan up to the springer of the arch, transformed into an ogive arch in the Middle Ages. This has given it its second name (mandorla is Italian for ‘almond’). The highroad towards Orvieto passed under this arch. Several of the gate’s salvage stones bear fragments of the AUGUSTA PERUSIA and COLONIA VIBIA Latin inscriptions found also on the Arco di Augusto.