Verona

This page is about the city in Italy; for other uses, see Verona (disambiguation).

Verona (population est. 260,000), is an ancient town, an episcopal see and a province in Veneto, Italy, on the shores of the Adige River and near to those of the Lake Garda.

History

Its origins are supposed of Etruscan influences, but the first historical news are from the 4th century BC. It became a notable center during the Roman Age, of relevant political and commercial weight.

Verona was flooded in 1239 and quite entirely soon rebuilt. Verona reached the apogee of its influence in the 14th century as the seat of power of the della Scala family (also know as the Scaligeri).

Monuments

Roman monuments

Verona is famous for its Roman amphitheatre, the Arena where opera is now performed in the summer months. The Arena (whose shape and use immediately recall the Roman Colosseum) was built around the half of the 1st century AD on a site which at the time was out of the urban walls. The ludi (shows and games) played in it were so famous that spectators came to Verona for them from many other (sometimes very distant) places. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators, and the most requested events were gladiators' fights (against lions too). The round façade was originally in white and pink limestone from Valpolicella, but during the Middle Ages the Arena was used as a sort of quarry for other buildings. The first interventions to recover its functionality as a theatre were started during the Renaissance.

But other Roman monuments too are in the town, like the Roman theatre, built in the 1st century BC and retrieved in the 18th century thanks to Andrea Monga, a wealthy Veronese who bought all the houses that in time had been built over the theatre, demolished them and saved the monument. Verona hosts indeed one of the richest collections of Roman remains of all Northern Italy.

The Arco dei Gavi (Gavi Arch), dedicated to the important Roman family of the Gavii, was built in the same 1st century AD, and is famous for having the name of the builder (architect Lucius Vitruvius Cordone) engraved on it, a really rare case in the architecture of the epoque. It had been demolished by the French troops in 1805 and was rebuilt in 1932.

Medieval monuments

San Zeno Basilica, like many other Veronese churches, is built with alternating layers of white stone and bricks.

The Saint Zeno Basilica (San Zeno) is a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture.[1] (http://www.chieseverona.it/sanzeno.htm) It was rebuilt in 1117 on the remains of an older church, following from an earthquake.

Related links

• Association Chiese Vive for the medieval churches of Verona (http://www.chieseverona.it/1000anni.htm#GB)

Famous Veronese

• Girolamo Fracastoro also known by his Latin name Fracastorius - renowned scholar, physician and poet

Other information

Verona was the birthplace of Catullus, Vitruvius, and the town that Julius Caesar selected for his relaxing stays. In its history many important names passed and events happened that were relevant for the European history, like Theodoric the Great, king of Ostrogoths, Alboin and Rosamunda, the Lombard Dukes, Charlemagne and Pippin of Italy, Berengar I, Dante. Conclaves were held here, as were important congresses. Verona was in the travel diaries of Goethe, Stendhal, Paul Valéry.

The supposed balcony where Romeo called for Juliet

Verona is the setting of the story of Romeo and Juliet, made famous by William Shakespeare. Although the earliest version of the story is set in Siena, not Verona - the move was made in Luigi da Porto's Istoria novellamente ritrovata di due Nobili Amanti - a balcony falsely claiming historical connection to the fictional lovers has become a tourist attraction for lovers nowadays, with tons of love graffiti beneath it.

Its Natural history museum contains one of the most valuable collections of fossils and archaeological remains of Europe.

The colors of the city are the yellow and the blue.

The town has two soccer teams, now both in the highest division of the Italian championship: Chievo Verona and Hellas Verona A.C..

Things from Verona (and sometimes people) are called Veronese, but this can be confusing because 'Veronese' was also the last name of the famous artist, Paolo Veronese (and so he is often called that).

External links

• The official website of Arena (http://www.arena.it/eng/arenaeng.urd/portal.show?c=1)
• Gavi Arch details (http://www.hortuspublius.net/verona/arcegavii.html)

da:Verona de:Verona es:Verona fr:Vérone it:Verona nl:Verona (Italië) ja:ヴェローナ no:Verona pl:Werona ro:Verona