The Best of Verona: Beyond Juliet
Must-See Sights in Northern Italy’s Most Charming Little City
Aug 2, 2007
Visit walled Verona to see one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheaters, art-filled churches, a Renaissance garden and architecture from Venetian to Art Nouveau
Mention Verona and people think of Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, Juliet. In fact, she never lived – here or elsewhere – but the fiction is cheerfully exploited by Juliet sights. Far more interesting than these are the city’s real attractions.
Happily for tourists, most of Verona’s important sights are close together, in the center of the compact city, almost encircled by the Adige River. Don’t miss these:
- The Arena – Gladiators once fought for their lives here, saints were martyred, and in summer, a festival fills it with grand opera.
- Castelvecchio – Once the home of Verona’s ruling Scaligeri family, the castle lies along the river, with its own bridge. Inside, the space has been redesigned by cutting-edge architect Carlo Scarpa to house the city’s outstanding collection of art and antiquities.
- San Zeno – The bronze doors on this church dedicated to Verona’s first bishop, are older than the present church. It is one of the finest Romanesque churches surviving in Italy, and inside are frescoes by Veronese, with graffiti by pilgrims who stopped here in the 1600s.
- Piazza del’Erbe – Once the Roman forum, the small piazza is still the heart of Verona’s old city. Each morning a vegetable market springs up here, although souvenir stalls remail all day. Look here for Verona’s nightlife.
- Piazza dei Signori – In the center of this elegant square surrounded by Venetian buildings, a statue of a pensive Dante is a favorite stopping place for pigeons.
- Scalligeri tombs – The elaborate gothic tombs of Verona’s most prominent family are flamboyant, but superb in their intricate stone carving.
- Sant’Anastasia – Known for its carved marble figures that hold the holy water fonts at the entrance, the church also had excellent frescoes.
- Teatro Romano – The theater overlooks the river and a Roman bridge, from a natural slope, and above it is an archaeological museum filled with local finds.
- San Pietro – Climb to the terrace behind the Roman Theater for views of the city – this is the place to watch the sunset.
- Santa Maria in Organo – Verona’s least-known church has intricately inlayed choir stalls and sacristy cabinet work. This masterpiece of wood inlay is the work of a single monk in the 1400s. Be sure to look up at the frescoes in the sacristy, reached by a door from the choir.
- Giardini Giusti – A Renaissance oasis, with carefully tended formal beds and a hillside of paths and grottos.
- Art Nouveau Neighborhood -- Also across the river, at the end of Ponte Vittorio, lies several streets lined with mansions built by the rising merchant class at the turn of the 20th century.
The copyright of the article The Best of Verona: Beyond Juliet in Italy Travel is owned by Barbara Rogers. Permission to republish The Best of Verona: Beyond Juliet in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
