My, my, my, My Verona
Let’s get this Romeo and Juliet thing out in the open right now. The original novel was written by an Italian monk named, “Matteo Bandello” in 1561. It was later translated into verse by author Arthur Brooke in 1562; and then retold by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare didn’t write his version until 1596, 35 years after the original publication.
This story was based on two fictional lovers who committed suicide. There is no mention of the town of Verona, Italy in the original writing. But that hasn’t stopped them from capitalizing on the possibility that this was where the story took place. And so that’s why the throngs of tourists stand in line to pay to see the courtyard and home where Juliet lived. And take pictures of the famous balcony. BTW- the balcony was added to the facade in the 20th century.
And we’re off to Verona! Sunday morning, the weather is perfect for strolling around a medieval city in Italy. Temperatures today are going to be around 75F for a high and pretty much no chance of rain. The only downside for today will be the masses descending on this town of ~257,000 inhabitants. Other than that, there’s plenty of parking available and some 1st century BC sites to see. Gonna pass on Juliet’s house for obvious reasons.
The drive is about 40 minutes from Sirmione and relatively easy except for when Google gets lost. But we made it. Parked the hot rod and made our way to the streets. First on our tour list is the Roman Theater, yep, 1st century BC.
Before we move on, Verona is a UNESCO Heritage Site located at the foot of the Lessini Mountains and on the River Adige. The city represents over 2,000 years of history, from Roman to the 21st century, and has remained mostly intact. There was some damage during WW2 but reconstruction maintained the original structure.
Verona from across the River Adige
The Romans won the area of Verona with their conquest of the Valley of Po in 300BC. In 89BC, Verona was a Roman colonia, and in 49BC became a municipium. And so it goes. Verona changed hands and rulers almost as fast as history could be written. From Roman to Austrian to the Scala Family to… Leave it to say, Verona has had a number of rulers.
Ancient gateway into the city
But today, we’re here to visit the ancient sites, one of which is the Roman Theater built in 1BC. The theater is located at the far end of the city in a turn on the river. It’s currently used as a concert venue and has an excellent museum of artifacts collected while building out the riverbank. As with most Roman buildings, it could accommodate a large portion of the population, about 6,000 people, for a performance. Many stone masks and carvings depicting theatrical themes were found during reconstruction of this theater.
The theater today doesn’t resemble much of the past. Today there are modern seats and benches installed over the stone ones originally built by the Romans. Its nice that the city uses this venue, but for those seeking to see history, it’s a bit lacking. The museum however, does have a good collection of artifacts.
The Roman Theater today.
Recovered mosaics depicting scenes from plays.
Aisle marker for seating
Mosaics depicting a tiger and a leopard
Incredible detail in the carving of a Roman Officer (minus the head)
Onward to the next site, lunch! Time to find a nice restaurant in one of the many piazzas of Verona and enjoy a glass of wine and something to eat. Found the perfect spot in Piazza del Erbe, one of Verona’s most popular squares. We selected a restaurant and chose to sit outside even though this is the smoking section. In all of Europe, the best seats in the house are assigned to smokers, no idea why. And what a lunch, prosciutto and mushroom flatbread for me, octopus and potato salad for the Misses! Yummy!
Octopus and potato salad
Prosciutto and mushroom flatbread
Dem good ole tentacles! How yummy!
Finished lunch then off to Lamberti’s Tower, just about 50’ from our restaurant. Built in the 12th century by, yep, the Lamberti family. The tower has two bells installed, one small bell that was used to call the fire brigade; and one large bell that was used to call the city council to meeting or call the citizens to arms against attackers. Not sure how that works, think about it. Anyway, instead of walking up the 363 stairs to the top, we took the elevator. Not all modernization is bad!
Amazing views of Verona from up here some 276’. But we needed to make sure we were down before the hour or half hour because the bells today are used to tell time. Snapped some pics then down the stairs. Been caught in a bell tower before and it’s not pleasant.
Verona and the Roman Arena from Lamberti’s Tower
Verona’s countryside from the tower
Making our way back to the second Roman site, the “Arena”. Looks like a miniature Colosseum! But before we make it there, we come across that fateful site, yes friends, we’ve stumbled upon Juliet’s house. There is a mob waiting to pay their 6EUR to go inside a house that has nothing to do with the novel, “Romeo and Juliet”. Absolutely crazy!
Verona’s money-maker
Moving on, we come to the Roman Arena that, just like the Roman Theater, is in use today by the city of Verona. And yes, once again we drop 6EUR to go inside only to find that this arena has also be outfitted with modern chairs and benches for the comfort of concert goers. Not what we expected but glad they are getting use out of this magnificent ancient artifact.
The new old arena floor
Grand Entrance
Entrance arches
Entrance arches with the Misses
Ancient corridor
That’s it. Heading back to Sirmione for the evening and a bit of relaxation. Tomorrow is our last day here, we drive to Ljubljana, Slovenia on Tuesday so a whole new adventure for our heroes.
Ciao!