The Porta del Soccorso owes its name to the tradition that it was from this point in the town walls that Countess Aldruda Frangipane, Lady of Bertinoro, sent her forces out to relieve the city of Ancona, besieged by the troops of Archbishop Cristiano di Magonza, in 1173.

In fact it is not a real gateway but rather a breach in the walls, with a circular tower beside it, used for sorties if the Bishops’ Fortress came under siege.