The two slender towers of Porta Soprana have guarded the eastern part of the city for over eight centuries. In reality, such tall towers did not have a significant defensive value, but, with their grandeur, they served more as a warning to eventual enemies, as in the case of the memorial tablets of 1155 built into the wall near the arch of the gateway that invites the visitor to come in peace rather than war.

The history of the Porta Soprana, with its towers, are closely connected to the urban development of the area.
In 1892 an important restoration project was undertaken supervised by Alfredo d'Andrade, an architect of Portuguese origin who had long been active in Genoa and committed to protecting the city's monuments. The work was continued by his successors until 1935, it freed the original structure from  the heavy overlapping construction which had become stratified over the centuries and which had hidden its elegant and “pure” medieval appearance.