VERONA, CITY OF LOVE AND DRAMA
VERONA, CITY OF LOVE AND DRAMA
The tour “Verona, city of love and drama” helps you enjoy a opulent and charming destination.
Verona developed, since Roman times, along the banks of the Adige River, which connected the fertile flat land of the Veneto with the alpine area northbound to the border with Austria.
Over the centuries, the residential districts expanded all around the ancient settlements that still characterize the current plan.
After meeting your guide, your itinerary begins in Piazza Bra, a large square enlivened up by bars and cafés where the locals indulge lazily in the late afternoon.
Comfortably seated at the bars, they admire the Arena, a circular Roman amphitheater. It dates from the 1st cent. AD and ranks third in terms of size in Italy, after Rome and Capua.
Entirely made of local limestone, it is 90 feet tall. Since 1913 it has hosted a successful Opera Festival in July and August, attracting music lovers from the whole of Europe.
During our “Verona, city of love and drama” tour we cannot skip Juliet Balcony, and the colorful Piazza delle Erbe, once the commercial center, today a fresh produce retail market.
The Della Scala family were Lords of Verona in the late Medieval Age and finally submitted to the Venice Republic in 1405.
Buildings and monuments scattered throughout the pedestrian center are historical testimony of those heydays when the city was the crossroad of Northern European trade.
The most representative members of the Della Scala are resting in the Arche Scaligere, impressive funerary monuments enclosed in a private setting.
They ruled in the Palazzo della Ragione –City Hall- located in the Piazza dei Signori, where your guide will show you the Torre dei Lamberti, a 276 feet tower completed in 1448 with a big belfry.
We continue our stroll along the calm Adige, a river that rises in Austrian Alps and flows into the Adriatic Sea.
Passed the river bend, we reach the imposing white Arco dei Gavi.
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Built-in the 1st century AD, it was meant as an honorary triumphal arch dedicated to the Roman architect Lucio Vitruvio Cerdone. After many centuries, it became a majestic Town Gate, and today stands on its own with pride for the whole population.
Another must-see highlight is the nearby Castelvecchio, an impressive castle commissioned by Cangrande II Della Scala in 1354.
This massive building was a primary stronghold controlling routes to and from Verona.
After fatal WW2 bombings, Castelvecchio became the most representative Verona museum. It displays remarkable paintings on wood and canvas by local artists from the Middle to the Modern Age.
Another section is devoted to fine jewelry, antique armor, cold weapons and handwoven fabrics.
Our itinerary “Verona, city of love and drama” carries on with the grand Romanesque church, San Zeno Maggiore, the official Verona patron Saint.
Among the many worth mentioning treasures, the original doorway decorated with 73 magnificent bronze plates reports the episodes of San Zeno’s life with emotional realism.
Inside the church, your guide will point out the 1457 Andrea Mantegna altarpiece, the large multicolored walls, and the 10th cent. underground crypt. This is the last landmark of this tour, we hope you enjoyed it!
On request only, we can arrange an extra afternoon tour by private car focussed on the Valpolicella area, just seven miles northbound.
Thriving vineyards extend on gentle hills separated by long streams flowing into the Adige river. Northern Lessini mountains protect local vines from cold winds, tempered by the Garda Lake warm breeze.
The surrounding landscape is gorgeous, with cherry and peach trees grown next to the vineyards.
All the Doc –quality- wines produced on the spot are known as Valpolicella, made from indigenous grapes, but with different processes.
The full bodied Amarone is one of the most authoritative red-aged wines in Italy.
Its distinctive character originates from the grape drying process and the long aging, which confers unique flavors and aromas.
Take advantage of a sensory experience in a Valpolicella wine estate and taste the range of excellent wines uncorked in front of your eyes. Learn about the family history, and do not hesitate to ask questions while you are there, it will add more glamour to your tour.
Later, we go back by private car to your point of departure.
Thank you for joining “Verona, city of love and drama”!
HIGHLIGHTS
- Piazza Bra and the Arena
- A walk in the Medieval center
- The Arche Scaligere (tombs of the Della Scala family)
- Castelvecchio and the Adige River
- Church of San Zeno
MORE ABOUT
THIS TOUR
“There is no world for me outside the walls of Verona, except purgatory, torture, and hell itself.”
Although Shakespeare never visited Verona, and Romeo and Juliet only belong to the realm of literature and poetry, these words, uttered by Romeo, are profoundly significant: Verona is a world unto itself, complex and complete in its visual richness, surrounded by its river and walls, like a magic circle.
The visitor that has entered the circle may experience the sensation of stepping into a chain of “enchanted” spaces, where history and legend, reality and fiction are so deeply fused, impossible to separate.
In a few minutes, you can go from the almost fairytale-like Middle Ages of Castelvecchio, to the typical Venetian picturesqueness of Piazza delle Erbe. Next, we have a series of kaleidoscopic squares connected to one another. Finally, the wonderfully silent, dreamlike atmosphere of the Arche Scaligere. We return to the affable “liston” (meaning the locals’ everyday promenade) of Piazza Bra and finally a visit to the great stone “eye” of the Arena, a mystic ring in the moonlight of a summer night. You don’t even need to conjure up Juliet and her supposed romantic tomb…Continue reading
DRESS CODE AND ADVICE
- No shorts, no sleeveless shirts. Knee high skirts and short sleeves are ok!
COST
- This tour lasts 3 hours and costs 280 euros (up to six people)
- Only private parties
- Professional English-speaking guide
- Transportation not included
- Verona can be easily reached by train from Venice or from Vicenza
- Please apply for further information about the afternoon tour
CONTACT US
WALKS INSIDE ITALY
ART CITY WALKS aff. Network Giv
San Polo 1541 30125 VENICE, ITALY
C.F. e P. Iva 04331170276
Prot. 2016/16140 del 25-2-2016
Polizza Europ Assistance 8957877
