VERONA IN THE MIDDLE AGES

140 €

Verona in the Middle Ages

Verona lived two “golden ages”: the Roman times of course, but even more significant were the Medieval centuries, especially the 14th century, the age of rival cities and families, when the the whole region was under the rule of the prominent Della Scala family.

Starting our Medieval tour we could not miss a look to the Basilica of San Zeno, one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches of northern Italy and part of a Benedictine Abbey. Beyond a bend of the river the ‘Castelvecchio’ castle appears: it is a fortified residence and one of the symbols of the Middle Ages together with its crenellated bridge and keep. It is the perfect representation of a castle from the Middle Ages and you can easily imagine a princess in distress looking out of one of the windows… and a fierce dragon not far away. As we follow the river Adige imagine it in the past: it was navigable and the shores were dotted by mills and boats tied to the piers. All of this disappeared in the XIXth century and all we see today are the bell towers of numerous churches, many of them built with the typical brick and tuff stripes of the Middleages.

Reaching a small square, which is the only reminder of a huge private garden we can see the palaces of the Scaligeri Family, former rulers in Verona. The two impressive brick buildings show the changes from a simple tower-house to a fortified residential palace, the interior of which was richly decorated with frescoes, marble columns and elaborate ceilings whereas the outside was a simple square building with four corner towers. The world famous Romeo’s house is similar in shape, as Shakespeare immortalized in his play ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Close to the Romeo’s house, we find the small church of S. Maria Antica and the tombs of the Scaligeri family, three elaborate gothic monuments built in the XIVth century and crowned with the equestrian statues of the rulers. In the nearby Piazza dei Signori we can admire the statue of Dante, considered the “father” of the Italian Literature.

The narrow alley linking Piazza Signori to Piazza Erbe is where one ruler of the Scaligeri family was killed and his murder was one of the reasons why his brother transformed the city-state in to a princely state in 1277. The market in Piazza Erbe will surprise you with colours, sounds and smells which are more or less the same today as in the XIVth century. After having walked by Juliet’s house, we can reach Piazza Brà and the Arena which in the Middle Ages was the stage for a variety of bloody events.

MAIN POINTS OF INTEREST

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

TYPE OF ITINERARY

DURATION: 2 hours (for extensions, please visit our Rates page)

MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION: the bus or car of the clients is necessary for this tour. The first part of the tour is by bus, after about 20 minutes we start our walking tour which ends in Piazza Brà.

SUITED FOR: groups, schools, families, individuals, visitors with reduced mobility* *Some parts of our tour have uneven surfaces and there are few steps along the way.

EXTRA COSTS

No entrance fee is foreseen.

PARKINGS

TOURIST BUSSES: check out www.amt.it for entrance fee to the city and parking fees. CAR: Parking Arena, Parking Cittadella, Parking Isolo, Parking Centro. All Parking areas are more or less a 10-15 minute walk from the Arena (Piazza Brà).

AVAILABLE LANGUAGES

THIS TOUR IS AVAILABLE IN: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Rumanian, Portuguese, Finnish, Turkish and Japanese. Ask for the language you are interested in.

IN-DEPTH VISIT OF VERONA

TO COMPLETE YOUR DAY: Basilica of S. Fermo, S. Anastasia, Castelvecchio. FOR WHOEVER HAS AN EXTRA DAY: Lake Garda, Soave, Valpolicella, the Rice Road Tour.

We reserve the right to slightly modify this itinerary if necessary. ASSOGUIDE is not responsible for changes in the opening hours of the various monuments. Check the exact tariff based on your specific requests at the RATES page.

PLEASE RESERVE THE TOUR

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