Places of interest

Verona: a first glimpse of the city is love at first sight, and will entice you to come back and explore it thoroughly.
For the past two thousand years and more, the city walls enclose a unique and breathtaking range of art-works and monuments.

Recently awarded the status of a “World Heritage Site”, Verona has delighted painters, poets, travellers and celebrities for centuries.

Verona is a work of art in itself: a fascinating cross-roads of historical periods and cultures (both classical and Germanic), a blend of both Nordic and “Mediterranean” influences; the city is at the same time both ancient and modern.

A walk through its narrow streets allows you to get in touch with its varied and fascinating past: traces of its splendid Roman origins, its prevailing medieval structure dating back to the time of knights and castles, its magnificent Renaissance palaces as well as the impressive fortifications which protect it.
A suggestive blend of art and history which continuously fascinates the onlooker.

The Roman Arena

The Roman amphitheater, the Arena of Verona is one of the greatest and most prestigious archeological monuments in Europe. It is the third largest arena of its kind, with a seating capacity of twenty thousand. It was built in the first century A.C. during the last years of the emperor Augustus. From the very beginning of its existence, the Arena of Verona was a powerful and suggestive place of entertainment, as a venue for gladiatorial combats and other spectacles. Today the arena is used for plays, ballets, and operas.

Piazza della Erbe

This is one of the most historic and picturesque squares in Italy. In antiquity, it served as a Roman forum. Today, it contains many historic buildings, sculptures with a popular and colorful market overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables. Every direction one looks, history crowds in on you – the 15th century Colonna Antica, the 14th century Capitello, the 14th century Madonna Verona fountain, and the Gardello Tower.

Juliet’s House

One cannot visit Verona and not visit Juliet’s House and Balcony, as touristy as the place may be. It is only a few minutes from Piazza dell’Erbe, and is best visited early in the morning, before swamped with tour groups. Follow the signs to the small courtyard at 27 Via Capello. There one will see a bronze statue of Juilet and the balcony supposedly immortalized by Shakespeare. On the rare times when it is empty, the courtyard has a romantic air, with leafy vines overgrowing the attractive graffiti-bedecked walls. Visiting the courtyard is free, but there is an entrance fee to the building, which has a small museum and gift shop, though there are better ones elsewhere in the city.

La Casa di Giulietta was an inn owned by the Capuletti family. The house dates back to the 13th century and has a brick façade with large windows. It has been given its official title because Verona began to take advantage of tourism in the early 20th Century. The city further capitalized on the story by arbitrarily placing Juliet’s tomb in the crypt of San Francesco al Corso. Romeo’s house is supposedly on the Via della Arche Scaligeri.

Is this really the place where Romeo first declared his star crossed love for the fair Juliet? One might have one’s doubts, but standing in the courtyard, looking up at the balcony, it is a romantic thing to imagine.

Church of San Francesco al Corso

It is said that the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet has its beginning and end in this church. Here, it is said, the two star crossed lovers were married. Here, in the cloisters it is said, lays Juliet’s tomb.

Casa di Romeo

The Casa di Romeo is a plain, 13th Century house which tradition says that the dwelling belonged to the Montecchi, or Montagues, though some scholars say that the house actually belonged to some Cagnolo Nogarola. The building is not particularly impressive but is one of the oldest in Verona. The façade is brick and still has remains of the original battlements. One would easily miss the place without the memorial plaque.

Castelvecchio

The Castelvecchio or the Old Castle is a fairy-tale place of brick towers and turrets, protecting the bridge behind it. It was commissioned in 1354 by the Scaligeri warlord Cangrande II to serve the dual role of residential palace and military stronghold. It survived centuries of occupation, first by the Visconti family, then the Serene Republic of Venice, and then Napoléon. It was destroyed by the Germans during World War II bombing. Its restoration was started in 1958 by the acclaimed Venetian architect Carlos Scarpa, and it reopened in 1964. It is now a fascinating museum with some 400 works of art.

The ground-floor rooms, displaying statues and carvings of the Middle Ages, lead to a labyrinth of alleyways, vaulted halls, multileveled floors, and stairs, all as architecturally fascinating as the Venetian masterworks from the 14th to 18th centuries. Most interesting are those works by Tintoretto, Tiepolo, Veronese, Bellini, and the Verona-born Pisanello. Don’t miss the large courtyard with the equestrian statue of the warlord Cangrande I with a peculiar dragon’s head affixed to his back (actually his armor’s helmet, removed from his head and resting behind him.

Piazza dei Signori

Situated behind the busy Piazza Erbe, this central square is dominated by a statue of Dante made in 1865. Its perimeter is surrounded by historical buildings which accentuate the important role the place has played in the city’s political life. On the piazza we find the Palazzo del Comune, the Palazzo della Prefettura, the Palazzo del Capitanio, the Loggia del Consiglio and the Domus Nova. The buildings are joined with elegant arches, mostly dating from the 14th century. There are wide ranges of styles, which are nevertheless characterized by great harmony.

San Zeno Maggiore

San Zeno is one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture in the world, and one of the jewels of Verona’s heritage. The current building was constructed in 1120 and it is the third reconstruction of the basilica, the first one was a 4th century work and the second a 9th century. The building was finished at the end of the 14th century, when the Gothic ceiling and the apse were added.

Sant’Anastasia

Sant’Anastasia is the biggest church in Verona, its construction began in 1290 (by the Dominicans) and it finished in 1481. This church was constructed over an old church dedicated to Saint Anastasia. Two wooden ‘gobbi’ (=hunchback) welcome visitors to this church. you can admire a lot of interesting works. (1436).