The name is used both to refer to the gate proper and to the surrounding district (quartiere), a part of the Zone 1 division (the historic city centre), including the major avenue of Corso Sempione.

It was called Porta Giovia ("Jupiter's Gate") and was located at the end of modern Via San Giovanni sul Muro.

On 8 June 1859, four days after the Battle of Magenta, Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II of Italy triumphally entered Milan through the gate.

Many of such decorations, especially bas-reliefs, are dedicated to major events in the history of Italy and Europe, such as the Battle of Leipzig, the foundation of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, the Congress of Vienna.

Notable artists that have collaborated to the decoration of the gate include Pompeo Marchesi, Luigi Acquisti, Grazioso Rusca, Luigi Buzzi Leone, Giovanni Battista Comolli, Luigi Marchesi, Nicola Pirovano, Francesco Peverelli, Benedetto Cacciatori, Giovanni Antonio Labus, Claudio Monti, Gaetano Monti, Camillo Pacetti, Antonio Pasquali, Giovambattista Perabò, Angelo Pizzi, Grazioso Rusca, Girolamo Rusca, and Francesco Somaini.

Some of the most important streets in the area are Via Canonica, Via Luigi Cagnola, Via Abbondio Sangiorgio, Via Mario Pagano, Via Agostino Bertani, Via Antonio Canova, and Via Francesco Melzi d'Eril.

The park houses other renowned monuments and places of interest, such as the Branca Tower, 108 m high, the Palazzo dell'Arte (one of the seats of the Triennale art expo), sculptures by Giorgio de Chirico, and the public aquarium.