The Porta Nuova (New Gate), or Porta Borghese as it became known by the people of Mesagne, was built at the beginning of the 1600s to connect the old part of the city with the new district that was gradually developing in the area near the church of the Dominicans. According to reports by Antonio Profilo, the site of its construction was chosen on a location on which an old public cesspit existed, built just behind the old walls of the city. The università, therefore, in order to build the Gate, bought and demolished various houses sited in the vicinity of the church of Santa Caterina. The mayor of Mesagne at the time of the construction of the gate was the illustrious doctor Epifanio Ferdinando. Profilo also tells us that at the beginning of the 1800s in the current via Martiri della Libertà, a street which starts at the Porta Nuova, there existed the remains of a church; possibly those of Santa Caterina, and that in 1892 during the course of work aimed at enlarging this street, some tombs and pieces of an old frescoed building were discovered, possibly belonging to the church of San Biagio.

In 1702, probably because it was precarious, the Porta Nuova was rebuilt as reported in the inscription situated on the tympanum. The inscription indicates the names Carlo III and Prince Carmine De Angelis; the feudal lord at the time of the reconstruction. One can still see today the crest of Carlo III at the centre of the tympanum; on the left, the shields of the Marquis Barretta, and on the right, the civic crest.