The remains of the ancient city walls are visible at various points of the city.
The oldest documented phase is Norman, with the walls that enclosed a small area around the Cathedral and a door that opened opposite Palazzo Bonelli. The legend of the creation of the coat of arms of Barletta which has five red bands on a white background dates to this period. According to legend, the lord of the city, Roberto, having defeated the Saracens, cleaned his bloody hand on a white doorpost, right next to the door.
Following the first city enlargement in the mid-12th century, the gate was moved close to the Holy Sepulchre.
This was followed by several further expansions of the city walls, in the Angevin period and between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Of the gates that were opened in the walls over the centuries - Porta Reale, Porta del Santo Sepolcro, Porta Nuova - only the Porta Marina survives.