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If you are looking for a European tourist destination,
consider the Veneto region of northern Italy on the Gulf of
Venice. Venice is its best-known city and one of the most
popular tourist destinations on earth. But the Veneto
region is a lot more than this great city. There are
excellent tourist attractions elsewhere, and you won’t have
to fight the huge crowds. With a little luck you’ll avoid
tourist traps, and come back home with the feeling that you
have truly visited Italy. This article examines tourist
attractions in the Shakespearean town of Verona, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. Be sure to read our companion articles
on northern Veneto, southern Veneto, and the university
city of Padua.

Verona. I don’t know about you, but I can’t hear this word
without thinking of the phrase, Two Gentlemen of Verona, a
not particularly well-known Shakespeare play. Verona was
the setting of a particularly well-known Shakespeare play,
Romeo and Juliet. This city of more than a quarter million
has a long and bloody history. Its residents are proud that
on an Easter Monday more than two hundred years ago they
drove out the French occupiers. The German writer Goethe
and the French writers Stendhal and Valery included Verona
in their travel diaries. The Roman emperor Julius Caesar
spent a lot of time here, and probably enjoyed many of the
sights described next.

Verona has quite a collection of vestiges from its Roman
days. Let’s start with its Roman amphitheatre, the third
largest in Italy. This structure is approximately 400 feet
(140 meters) long and 350 feet (110 meters) wide, giving it
a seating capacity of about 25,000 spectators in 44 tiers
of marble seats. While only fragments of the outer walls
remain, its interior is virtually intact. This edifice
often hosts fairs, theatre, opera and other public events,
especially during the summer.

A First Century B.C. Roman theatre was eventually
transformed into a housing site but in the Eighteenth
Century the houses were demolished and the site restored.
Nearby you’ll find the Ponte di Pietra (Stone Bridge), a
Roman arch bridge crossing the Adige River, completed in
100 B.C. Retreating German troops destroyed four of the
bridge arches in World War II but the bridge was rebuilt in
1957 using original materials.

You should also see the First Century Arco dei Gavi (Gavi
Arch) straddling the Corso Cavour; once the main road into
the city. Look for the architect’s signature, a rarity for
the times. French troops destroyed this arch in 1805, and
it was rebuilt only in 1932.

Porta Borsari, an archway at the end of the Corso Porta
Borsari street, is the façade of a Third Century gate
within the original Roman city walls. This street is lined
with several Renaissance Palaces. Porta Leoni (Leoni Gate)
is what remains of a First Century B.C. Roman city gate.
Parts of it have been incorporated into a wall of a
medieval building. Even in those days some people believed
in recycling. You can see the remains of the original Roman
street and the gateway foundations if you look slightly
below the present street level.

The Twelfth Century Romanesque Duomo (Cathedral) was
constructed on the site of two Palaeo-Christian churches
destroyed by an earthquake much earlier in the century. The
site includes an unfinished Sixteenth Century bell tower.
Be sure to see the chapel adorned with Titian’s Assumption.

Verona’s largest church is the Fifteenth Century
Sant’Anastasia whose interior is considered one of northern
Italy’s finest examples of Gothic architecture, and believe
me this competition includes many entries. The construction
of this magnificent edifice took nearly two hundred years.
Among its items of honor are frescoes and hunchback statues
that serve to dispense holy water. It is said that touching
a hunchback’s hump brings good luck. Maybe next time.

San Fermo Maggiore is in reality two churches. The tomblike
lower Romanesque church dates from the Eighth Century. The
huge Fourteenth Century Gothic upper church is notable for
its ceiling festooned with the paintings of four hundred
saints. There are more churches to see in Verona but we are
now going to look at castles and palaces.

The Fourteenth Century Castelvecchio (Old Castle) was built
on the banks of the Adige River near the Ponte Scaligero
(Scaligero Bridge), probably on the site of a Roman
fortress. Built to protect against foreign invaders and
popular rebellions, it included a fortified bridge in case
the owners had to flee north to join their allies in the
Tyrol. Over the years the castle has known many renovations
and restorations. Make sure to visit its art museum,
specializing in Venetian painters and sculptors.

Those Scaligeris spent a lot of their time in the Palazzo
degli Scaligeri, their medieval palace, which today, as
then, is closed to the general public. But you can go next
door to the Arche Scaligere with its Gothic tombs of
selected members of the family.

The Italian Piazza is a meeting place. Verona has some
special examples. The Piazza delle Erbe (Herb Square) has
been around since the days of the Romans. For ages it was a
fruit and vegetable market but now is geared to tourists.
It still maintains its medieval look and some of the
produce stalls. The Piazza dei Signori (Gentlemen’s Square)
is Verona’s center of activities as it has been for
centuries. This square is right next door to the Scaglieri
Palace. Those gentlemen didn’t believe in commuting.

We can’t leave Verona without visiting those star-crossed
lovers, Romeo and Juliet. The Twelfth Century Casi di
Giulietta (Juliet’s House) long belonged to the Dal
Cappello family and since it’s not a long way from Cappello
to Capulet perhaps… This lovely house even possesses a
courtyard balcony. Yes, the house at Via Cappello, 23
probably isn’t the real thing, but crowds come to gawk and
dream. This could be the place to propose marriage.

What about food? Verona’s cuisine features typical dishes
of the Po Valley plains: mixed boiled meats, nervetti
(calf’s foot and veal shank salad), and risotto, often
prepared with a healthy douse of Amarone wine. The Piazza
delle Erbe still has some fruit and vegetable stalls
selling local produce such as radicchio and asparagus. Not
only the wine is classified. Verona is home to a classified
cheese, Monte Veronese. But who would think that rice is
also classified? The Riso Nano Vialone Veronese is a
laboratory-developed rice first introduced into the area in
1945. It now represents 90% of the local production. Is it
better than other rice? Locals obviously think so. I
promise that I will taste it on my next trip to Verona.

Let’s suggest a sample menu, one of many. Start with
Gnocchi (Small Potato Dumplings). Then try Pastissada de
Caval (Horsemeat Stew, often simmered in wine). For dessert
indulge yourself with Pandoro di Verona (Verona Butter
Cream Cake). Be sure to increase your dining pleasure by
including local wines with your meal.

We’ll conclude with a quick look at Veneto wine. Veneto
ranks 3rd among the 20 Italian regions for the area planted
in grape vines and for its total annual wine production.
About 45% of Veneto wine is red or rose, leaving 55% for
white. The region produces 24 DOC wines and 3 DOCG wines,
Recioto di Soave, Soave Superiore, and Bardolino Superiore.
DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which
may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin,
presumably a high-quality wine The G in DOCG stands for
Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such
wines are truly superior. Almost 30% of Venetian wine
carries the DOC or DOCG designation.

Valpolicella DOC is a world famous wine produced north of
Verona from several local red grapes. This wine is usually
nothing to write home about and often tastes of cooked
cherries. But that is hardly the end of the Valpolicella
story. Valpolicella Ripasso is made from young Valpolicella
wine put into tanks or barrels containing the lees (one
could say dregs, but that might give the wrong impression)
of a recioto wine (see below). The mixture undergoes a
secondary fermentation and becomes a more interesting wine.
Valpolicella Recioto is made from passito grapes, those
dried on mats for several months. It may be a still wine, a
fizzy wine, or a sparkling wine. Valpolicella Recioto is
sweet or bittersweet. Amarone DOC is a type of Valpolicella
Recioto whose sugar has been completely transformed into
alcohol becoming a powerful tasting wine that packs a punch
and ages well. What a difference between Amarone and its
source wine, Valipolicella.

testosterone boosters
—————————————————-
Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on
computers and the Internet, but he prefers drinking fine
Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and
people. He knows about dieting but now eats and drinks what
he wants, in moderation. He teaches classes in computers at
an Ontario French-language community college. His new wine,
diet, health, and nutrition website
http://www.wineinyourdiet.com links to his other sites.