Page 414 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

412  IT AL Y AND GREECE

The Arena, Verona’s Roman amphitheater – the setting for spectacular summer opera performances
y Mantua frescoes by Mantegna in the u Verona
* 55,000. £ @ n Piazza Andrea Camera degli Sposi (1465–74), * 261,000. k Villafranca 12 km (7
Mantegna 6 (0376-43 24 32). ( Thu. are a highlight. They portray the miles) SW. £ @ n Via degli Alpini 9
Gonzaga family and court, and (045-806 86 80). ( daily. _ Estate
A striking if stern-looking city of the room is completed by a Teatrale Veronese (Jun–Aug); Opera
fine squares and aristocratic light-hearted trompe l’oeil ceiling. Festival (Jul–Sep).
architecture, Mantua (Mantova The nearby Duomo has an ∑ tourism.verona.it
in Italian) is bordered on three 18th-century façade and fine
sides by lakes. It was the interior stuccoes by Giulio Verona, a large and prosperous
birthplace of the poet Virgil and Romano (c.1492–1546). city of the Veneto region, boasts
playground for three centuries Piazza dell’Erbe is dominated magnificent Roman ruins,
of the Gonzaga dukes. Mantua by the Basilica di Sant’ Andrea second only to those of Rome
was also the setting for Verdi’s (15th century), designed largely itself, as well as some important
opera Rigoletto, and is by the early Renaissance medieval monuments.
mentioned in Shakespeare’s architect and theorist, Alberti. The Arena, Verona’s Roman
Romeo and Juliet. These Across town is the early amphitheater completed in
theatrical connections are 16th-century Palazzo Tè, AD 30, is the third largest in the
celebrated in local street names designed as the Gonzaga world. Concerts, plays, and
and monuments, and are family’s summer retreat. This opera productions are staged
reinforced by the presence in extraordinary palace is here. Other Roman sites include
the town of the 18th-century decorated with frescoes by the Roman Theater, and artifacts
Teatro Scientifico Bibiena, a Giulio Romano and has rooms from Roman times can be seen
masterpiece of late Baroque lavishly painted with horses and in the Museo Archeologico.
theater architecture. signs of the zodiac. The tragic story of Romeo
Mantua is focused on three and Juliet, first set here by Luigi
attractive main squares. Piazza P Palazzo Ducale da Porto in the 1520s and
Sordello is the site of the Palazzo Piazza Sordello 40. Tel 0376-35 21 00. immortalized by Shakespeare,
Ducale, the vast former home of Open Tue–Sun. Closed Jan 1, May 1, has inspired local monuments
the Gonzaga family which also Dec 25. & 8 (audio). 7 Camera such as Romeo’s House and
incorporates a 14th-century degli Sposi: Tel 041-241 18 97. the so-called Tomb of Juliet.
fortress and a basilica. The Open by appointment only. Verona’s focal point is Piazza
Erbe, scene of colorful markets
for 2,000 years.
The ornate tombs of members
of the Scaglieri family, who ruled
the city for 127 years from 1263,
are situated beside the entrance
to the church of Santa Maria
Antica. Another legacy of the
family is Castelvecchio, an
impressive castle built by
Cangrande II between 1355
and 1375. There is a fine art
gallery in the castle, which has a
collection of 15th-century late
Renaissance Madonnas. Built in
The 13th-century facade of the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua 1125–35 to house the shrine of
For hotels and restaurants see pp438–40 and pp441–3

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