With its wealth of Roman sites and
streets of pink-hued medieval
buildings, the easy-going city of
VERONA
has more in the way of sights than
any other place in the Veneto except
Venice itself. Unlike Venice,
though, it's not a city overwhelmed
by the tourist industry, important
though that is to the local economy.
Verona is the largest city of the
mainland Veneto, its economic
success largely due to its position
at the crossing of the major routes
from Germany and Austria to central
Italy and from the west to Venice
and Trieste.
Verona's initial development as a
Roman settlement was
similarly due to its straddling the
main east-west and north-south lines
of communication. A period of
decline in the wake of the
disintegration of the Roman Empire
was followed by revival under the
Ostrogoths, who in turn were
succeeded by the Franks:
Charlemagne's son, Pepin, ruled his
kingdom from here. By the twelfth
century Verona had become a
city-state, and in the following
century approached the zenith of its
independent existence with the rise
of the Scaligers . Ruthless
in the exercise of power, the
Scaligers were at the same time
energetic patrons of the arts, and
many of Verona's finest buildings
date from their rule.
With the fall of their dynasty a
time of upheaval ensued, Gian
Galeazzo Visconti of Milan emerging
in control of the city. Absorption
into the Venetian Empire came in
1405, and Verona was governed from
Venice until the arrival of
Napoleon. Verona's history then
shadowed that of Venice: a prolonged
interlude of Austrian rule, brought
to an end by the Unification of
Italy in 1866.
The City
of Verona
Coming from the train station, you
pass Verona's south gate, the Porta
Nuova , and come onto the long Corso
Porta Nuova, which ends at the
battlemented arches that precede the
Piazza Bra . Here stands the
mightiest of Verona's Roman...
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