Layers of Verona. Yestertoday.

I am enjoying a glass of wine and reminiscing about our days in Italy. Care to join? Get a glass of wine and sit down. This is Italy- it's always time for wine.
If you like, take a pause and go find a bottle of Aperol.  Add some Prosecco and a slice of arancia (orange) and you have a spritz!

Let's have a tour through the layers of Verona. Today's tour.

This four sided column stands sentry on the edge of the Piazza Brà. The column presides over an area that was once a market in the Middle Ages. The road beyond is the Via Mazzini, a marble street now lined with high end shopping retail. 1200 meets 2017.

The Astro Theater is a derelict find in Verona. It sits back a bit from the street, and is deserted and forgotten. Built in the Mussolini era- and I take it the Italians don't really love that history. 1940ish.

Pasticcino break! Dolce, desserts, are popular in Italy, but the king of all is gelato.

Layers here. This is from the Piazza Erbe (Herb square). The piazza is in the location of the original Roman Forum for the city. The ornate building in the photo is the Palazzo Maffei, built in the early 1600s by the wealthy Maffei family. In front is a tall column with the winged lion that is the symbol of St. Mark the apostle, who became the symbol of Venice (when his body was stolen from Egypt by some Venetian merchants and they brought Mark's bones back to Venice and presented him to the Doge- or ruler- and then the Basilica of St. Marks was built in Venice and the lion with wings became a "thing". As for why Mark is represented by a lion with wings? Seems a bit murky, but in the bible chapter written by the same, you can find clues. John the Baptist's voice as a lion in the wilderness....anyway that is what came about.)
The column has the Venetian symbol on it as in 1405, Verona gave itself to Venice to rule. But the lion didn't land up there until 1524, after a bout with Hapsburg rule. Lots of folks wanted Verona. Ever heard of Ostrogoths? Me neither, but even they had their turn. In the 400s.
You know who put their stamp on Verona and it's environs? The Scaligers. They were the big cheese family of the 12 and 1300s. They were the folks in charge during the Romeo and Juliet era, and they were prolific builders of stuff that made them more important.

This was their house "in town". They liked the "M" shaped merlons (that is the technical term for the pointy things on the top of their buildings and walls.) They also didn't care for the Pope (I have a feeling the Scaligeri motto was " Scaliger rules, (insert name here) drools!"). Anyhow, Dante Aligheri, famous poet of the Middle Ages was from Florence, and the Pope kicked him out. The Scaligers invited him to come stay in Verona.

 He thought about it for a minute and then figured "Why not?"
"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who retain their neutrality in times of moral crisis."

Palazzo della Ragione, near the Scaligeri residence, has the only remaining Renaissance staircase in Verona. It was added in 1447 to the outside of the palace. Outside staircases could be grand, and not take up space inside the residence. We saw a sweet one in Venice (photos later), but still, a bummer on a cold day.

 Back in Piazza Erbe, the building in the center was where merchants would weigh heavy goods coming into the market, like wool. Middle Ages.

The Scaligeri rulers liked their power, a lot. They wanted to be important even when they were dead. So, they changed the laws about being able to bury folks inside the city walls, just for them. Then they made their own cemetery next to the town-palace and buried themselves WAY up high. So, you have to look up to even their bones. Then, they surrounded the tower-graves with an awesome fence.

 Roman theater. This is on the opposite side of town from the Roman Arena. The rabble rousers were kept outside of the walls of the Roman city of Verona, but the Theatre-goers were tucked inside, nice and safe. This is on the other side of the River Adige, built into the hillside, but still in the the protection of the walls. And theater works still happen today.

 I found two other traveling spouses, Matt and Steve, that had time for an adventure, and we set out in the morning for the Parco della Mura. This is the outer walls of Verona (Verona has A LOT of defensive wall layers!) that were originally started in the 12th century. They were built up into the 14th century. The walls surround huge bastions in spade shape with a gazillion little holes for shooting at people. It also incorporates a large moat system, and in the bastions are buried living quarters for the shooter types. We covered a few miles of these hills. The space outside of the bastions has largely been turned into sporting space. We counted 7 pools in the swimming complex, playgrounds and football fields (yes, soccer) surround the outer walls. But, of course, the sprawl of the modern city goes well beyond that now. The current walls are the ones that the Austrians reconstructed in their occupation of Verona, right after Napoleon signed Verona over in a treaty in 1797. The walls are incredible, in a dry stack of honey comb shaped stone.

Verona is known for it's consumption of Carni Cavallo- that is horse meat. This was a shop that sold horse and beef. We took a peek inside, and the horse meat was a very deep dark red color. I don't eat meat, so I can't tell you much more than that.

In our wanderings, we found a large area that was an Austrian Arsenal. The buildings were deserted and overgrown, but surprisingly, in the center was a thriving market.  Matt is in the center of the photo, looking at grapes. I bought an apple (DEE-VINE), for 0.20euro. This concerned the proprietor, who seemed confused by me wanting just one. I got to slap some Italian down on him. "Una mela, per favore. Si, una!" Steve is a great adventure companion because he talks to everyone. There was a stand selling goat cheeses, and we had a fine, if broken in language, conversation with the cute girl who ran the stand. The boys enjoyed a smaller smoked cheese from her stand. I think Steve may also have invited himself to come see her farm.

The Scaligeri Family didn't just have a in-town house. They also built a big old castle. Castelvecchio is on the river on the west side of Verona. They built this big defensive bridge across the river for them to escape should the town be overcome, or the townspeople become revolutionary. Matt and Steve climbed the battlements to look down the river. Note the "M" shaped merlons= Scaliger!

The castle was interesting, including the residence for the Scaligers, which was divided from the castle by a moat and wall and heavy draw bridge gate. They didn't even trust their own army.
I was fascinated by the still- workable drawbridge, and took photos of the weight system, enormous hinge hardware and the posts and chain system that when the weight is released, fly up into the channels in the bricks above. So cool.

Outside of the Castelvecchio is this old Roman Gate that used to lead to a bridge over the river.

Between the sides of the gate are the original stones, and you can still see the grooves made by thousands of carts passing through the gate a thousand years ago. 

Modern Verona full of 3-6 story buildings with little squares, fountains and gardens scattered here and there. The windows often have metal covers that close over the window instead of the older shutters. The metal covers are security, sound and light barriers. 

And modern Verona and ancient Verona weave together like entwined fingers of lovers, startling in the juxtaposition. Here, above this portal to a courtyard is a carved stone group of saints holding crosses and even a crucified Jesus. To the right is an old window frame. These ranged on either side of the portal, but they no longer held windows, instead they held advertisement for the store below, with half- nekkid models.

Layers of  Yestertoday.