The historic city of Verona was founded in the 1st century B.C. It particularly flourished under the rule of the Scaliger family in the 13th and 14th centuries and as part of the Republic of Venice from the 15th to 18th centuries. Verona has preserved a remarkable number of monuments from antiquity, the medieval and Renaissance periods, and represents an outstanding example of a military stronghold.
The city is situated in northern Italy at the foot of the Lessini Mountains on the River Adige. It dates from prehistoric times: a small built-up area that developed between the 4th and 3rd century BCE became a Roman municipium in the 1st century BCE after which it rose rapidly in importance. During the 5th century, Verona was occupied by the Ostrogoth Theodoric I, later by the Lombards, and in 774 by Charlemagne. In the early 12th century, it became an independent commune. It prospered under the rule of the Scaliger family and particularly under Cangrande I, falling to Venice in 1405. From 1797, it became part of the Austrian Empire and joined the Kingdom of Italy in 1866.
The core of the city consists of the Roman town nestled in the loop of the river containing one of the richest collections of Roman remains in northern Italy. Surviving remains of this era include the city gate, Porta Borsari, the remains of the Porta Leoni, the Arco dei Gavi, which was dismantled in the Napoleonic period and rebuilt next to Castelvecchio in the 1930s, the Ponte Pietra, the Roman theatre, and the Amphitheatre Arena.
The Scaligers rebuilt the walls during the Middle Ages, embracing a much larger territory in the west and another vast area on the east bank of the river. This remained the size of the city until the 20th century. The heart of Verona is the ensemble consisting of the Piazza delle Erbe (with its picturesque fruit and vegetable market) and the Piazza dei Signori, with historic buildings that include the Palazzo del Comune, Palazzo del Governo, Loggia del Consiglio, Arche Scaligere, and Domus Nova. The Piazza Bra has a number of buildings dating back to different epochs.
Verona’s surviving architecture and urban structure reflects the evolution of this fortified town over its 2,000 year history.
The fourth amphitheater after the Colosseum in Rome is located right in the heart of Verona. Constructed in 30 AD, it is remarkable that the Arena still has such a fine condition after all those years.
The Arena di Verona is the 3rd largest Roman amphitheater in Italy. It will be hard to not visit the Arena when you visit Verona because it’s located right in the middle of the city center.
In Roman times, the Arena could host over 30.000 spectators. The people of old Verona watched many bloody fights in the Arena of gladiators who died with honor. A famous sentence that was used by gladiators before the fight started: