Chapter XIV Plan for Seeing the Town — Hotels
The length of a traveller’s sojourn in Verona is generally a short one, and the outside of his visit is at the most from three to four days. The time is short for seeing and understanding the town, and the following plan is sketched out so as to include the principal sights and to lay before the passer-by as good an idea as can be had in a limited time of the chief centres of interest in Verona:—
(1) The Church of Sant’ Anastasia, beside which stands the famous tomb of Guglielmo da Castelbarco (p. 160, etc.); along the Via Liceo and down the Via Duomo to the Duomo; S. Giovanni in Fonte; the Vescovado, and by by-ways to the Piazza delle Erbe (which can never be seen too often) into the Piazza dei Signori, or Piazza Dante, to the tombs of the Scaligers and the little Church of Sta. Maria Antica (chapters vii. and viii.).
(2) Through the Piazza delle Erbe, down the Via Cappello and the Via S. Sebastiano, etc., to the Church of S. Fermo. Then across the Adige by the Ponte delle Navi to the Museo Civico, or Picture Gallery (chapter ix.).
(3) By the Corso Cavour (see St Eufemia, Porta dei Borsari, and Castel Vecchio on the way—chapter xi.) to the Church of S. Zeno (chapter xii.), and from there to S. Bernardino, driving round through the Porta Palio and Porta Nuova to the Arena (chapter ii.).
(4) Across the Ponte di Pietra to the chief churches on the other side of the Adige, S. Giorgio in Braida; S. Stefano, Sta. Maria in Organo; and, if time allows of it, a visit to the Giardino Giusti (chapter x.).
A delightful expedition, occupying a good four hours, can be had by tram or carriage, to Soave, but a little walking is required to go right up to the Castle of the Scaligers, perched above the old walled-in town (chapter xiii.).
The best hotel in Verona is the Hôtel de Londres, also known as that of the Deux Tours. Part of the building is said to have once formed part of the Palace of the Scaligers, a statement that may well be the case, given its position and proximity to the house once inhabited by the lords of Verona. Here too is a good guide, one Illuminato Veronesi, who speaks English and knows his Verona well.
The Hôtel S. Lorenzo is pleasantly placed near the banks of the Adige. The Hôtel Colomba d’Oro stands in the Via Colomba, and is not far from the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and the Arena.
Notes
1 Ruskin, Verona and other Lectures. Allen (1894).
2 Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London, Murray, 1887, vol. ii., ch. xiv., p. 129.
3 See chapter x.
4 Benvenuti de Rambaldis de Imola, Comentum Super Dantis Aldighierij Comoediam. Tr. by the Hon. William Warren Vernon: Readings on the Purgatorio. London, Macmillan, 1897.
5 “In an amphitheatre, ‘podium’ was the name for a railed basement which ran like a high enclosure round the whole circumference of the arena.” See Mollett, J. W., An illustrated Dictionary of Words used in Art and Archæology. London, Sampson Low, 1883.
6 The extravagance in which Samaritana indulged contributed in no small degree to the decline and fall of her husband’s house. Her taste for jewellery was of a most ridiculous—not to say vulgar order. She heaped on jewels in profusion and would not put on her stockings unless they too were decorated with precious stones! She also excited the indignation of contemporary chroniclers by her insistance in sending to Ostiglia for some special unguents which she deemed necessary for beautifying her hair, and which were conveyed to this port on the Po at great expense from distant towns.
7 Zagata.
8 Belviglieri, Verona e Provincia, p. 341.
9 It may be well to remind the reader that this arch which was taken down in 1805 stood originally near Castel Vecchio, and was the work of the famous architect Vitruvius Cerdone, whose name was engraved on the archway. The inscriptions formerly existing over the niches show that the statues belonging to them were of the Gavii family. Panvinio is of opinion that the arch was erected to the memory of that Gavius who was consul B.C. 145. Maffei on the other hand says that it was set up to the memory of the whole of the Gavii family.
10 C. Cipolla, Compendio della Storia Politica di Verona. Verona, 1899.
11 Histoire des Républiques Italiennes, Sismonde de Sismondi, Bruxelles, 1838, vol. i., ch. xv., p. 507.
12 Alexander IV. issued letters for this crusade in 1255. It was preached next year by the Archbishop of Ravenna.
13 J. A. Symonds, Age of the Despots. London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1898, ch. iii., p. 83, &c.
14 “Tenne ambo le chiavi
Del cuor di Federigo.”—Inf. xiii. 58-59.
15 “Tiranni Che diér nel Sangue e nell’ aver di piglio.”—Inf. xii. 104-105
16 I am aware that I am destroying a legend that has found its way into nearly every guide-book and even into some histories of Verona by this assertion. But no Veronese of any culture or learning supports the popular tradition, or admits that the deed aroused such horror in the public mind as to brand the spot with a special name. The “Volto Barbaro” simply took its name from the Barbaro family who lived there, as the “Volto Marioni” in another part of the town did from the Marioni family—a fact that no one versed in Veronese matters would ever seek to gainsay or dispute.
17 Giuseppe Biadego, Dante e gli Scaligeri, Venezia, 1899.
18 See Cipolla, op. cit. p. 208.
19 “Thine earliest refuge and thine earliest inn
Shall be the mighty Lombard’s courtesy,
Who on the ladder bears the holy bird,
Who such benign regard shall have for thee
That ’twixt you twain, in doing and in asking,
That shall be first which is with others last.
With him shalt thou see one who at his birth
Has by this star of strength been so impressed,
That notable shall his achievements be.”
Paradiso, canto xvii., 76, &c.
(Longfellow’s Translation).
20 Giuseppe Biadego, op. cit., p. 12.
21 Op. cit., p. 13.
22 Boccaccio, Giornata I., Novella VII.
23 Gio. Villani, Istorie fiorentine, lib. x., cap. 139.
24 I have taken this translation from the Notes on the Paradiso, given in Longfellow’s translation of the Divine Comedy (London, 1877). From there, too, have I taken the extract from Petrarch, which is to be found in Balbo’s Life of Dante, translated by Mrs Bunbury, ii. 207.
25 Ch’io veggio certamente, e perŏ il narro,
A darne tempo, gia stelle propinque,
Sicure d’ogni intoppo e d’ogni sbarro;
Nel quale un cinquecento diece e cinque,
Messo di Dio, ancideră la fuja
Conquel gigante che con lei delinque.
26 Vernon, Hon. William Warren, Readings on the Purgatorio of Dante. London, Macmillan, 1889, vol. ii., p. 429, &c.
27 Rithmi de obitu Henrici VII., ed. Freher, Germanie-rerum Scriptores, i. 15, etc.
28 Cipolla, C, Storia delle Signorie italiani dal 1313 al 1350. Milano, 1881, lib. i. iv.
29 I have not gone into the lengthy and vexed question of the date of Cangrande’s birth. The year generally accepted is 1291, and that I have followed as the most probable one, and the one most deserving of acceptance.
30 Cipolla, op. cit. lib. i. iv.
31 Verona and other Lectures. Allen, Orpington, 1894.
32 This is not the place to enlarge on the fine character and qualities of Regina della Scala; but it is interesting to note that one of the most famous theatres in Italy takes its name from her, and that the “Scala” at Milan was so called in honour of this daughter of Verona.
33 Op. cit. p. 17.
34 See pp. 30-31.
35 P. Sgulmero.
36 Published anonymously in 1799 by Cristoforo Tentori.
37 Selwyn Brinton, The Renaissance in Italian Art, Part II., p. 37. Simpkin, London, 1898.
38 Op. cit. p. 38, etc.
39 Op. cit. p. 42.
40 Handbook of Painting. The Italian schools—based on the handbook of Kugler—thoroughly revised and in part rewritten by Sir A. Henry Layard, London. Murray, 1887. Part I. p. 274.
41 The Stones of Venice. John Ruskin, London. Smith, Elder & Co., 1858. Vol. i., Appendix 8, p. 361.
42 The artificer Nicholas who carved these things,
The folk who here collect will praise for aye.
43 Op. cit. p. 59.
44 Since the above was written it has now (April 1902) been replaced above the chapel; but so high up as to be seen with difficulty.
45 Ruskin, Stories of Venice, vol. i. Appendix 19.
46 In this courtyard much might be done were the Town Council of Verona only as ready to lay out sums in guarding and preserving their old treasures as they are in erecting modern houses and “embellishments” to attract visitors to their city. Some fine arches dating from the time of the Scaligers remain here blocked up; and some lovely frescoes which ask only to be protected from sun and rain cry aloud in this Cortile for an attention which is persistently denied them.
47 Ruskin, Stones of Venice, op. cit. vol. iii. p. 70, etc.
48 The tablet runs as follows:—
Queste furono le case
Dei Capuleti
Onde uscì la Giulietta
Per cui
Tanto piansero i cuori gentili
E i poeti cantarono.
These were the houses
Of the Capulets
From whence sprang Juliet
For whom
So many gentle hearts have wept
And poets have sung.
49 Op. cit. Part 1. p. 268.
50 Op. cit. p. 59.
51 Op. cit. p. 64.
52 Op. cit. Part I. p. 264.
53 Ruskin, Verona and other Lectures. Allen, 1894.
54 Op. cit. p. 264.
55 Selwyn Brinton, op. cit. p. 58, etc.
56 Spaventi-Guida di Verona, p. 132.
57 The authorship of this picture is open to doubt. It has been attributed to different masters in turn. Mr Berenson is of opinion that it is by Girolamo Mocetto, an opinion also held by Crowe and Cavalcaselle.
58 C. Cipolla, Compendio della Storia Politica di Verona. Verona 1899. pp. 46 and 44.
59 Layard, op. cit. p. 268.
60 Layard, op. cit. p. 263.
61 ... “and seemed to be of those
Who at Verona run for the green mantle
Across the plain; and seemed to be among them
The one who wins, and not the one who loses.”
—(Longfellow’s Translation.)
62 Readings on the Inferno of Dante, Hon. William Warren Vernon (London: Macmillan, 1894), vol. i. p. 532, etc.
63 Layard, op. cit. Part I. p. 253.
64 Selwyn Brinton, op. cit. p. 53.
65 In chapter vi.
66 Purgatorio, xviii. 124.
67 La Divina Commedia, col commento di Jacopo della Lana, Bologna, 1866, 3 vols. 8vo.
68 Hic reqviescit Heinricus de Tearen se maritus Gertrvdis.
69 Ruskin, op. cit. vol. ii. ch. vii. p. 248.