Verona, the city of the Arena and famous opera performances; the "City of Love" that framed Romeo and Juliet's tragic love.
"There is no world without Verona walls, But purgatory, torture, hell itself. Hence-banished is banish'd from the world, And world's exile is death: then banished, Is death mis-term'd: calling death banishment, Thou cutt'st my head off with a golden axe, And smilest upon the stroke that murders me" (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet - act III, scene III).
Despite its Medieval aspect, Verona is second only to Rome as far as the quality and preservation of its Roman antiquities: the Arena, the Roman Theatre, built on the slopes of Colle di Castel San Pietro, Ponte Pietra, the Gavi Triumphal Arch, the monumental gateways, in addition to many Roman villas and domus found beneath the level of the street.
The Scaligeris transformed the appearance of the city, building the fortifications, the Castelvecchio, the cangrande's palace and other palaces of the Della Scala Family (Lords of Verona), the Ponte Scaligero, the Domus Mercatorum and Piazza Erbe and last but not least, their splendid intricate funerary monuments, the "Arche Scaligere".
The Venetian domination has left its mark on the noble palaces overlooking Verona's most important squares and streets: Palazzo della Gran Guardia, Palazzo Pompei, Palazzo Maffei, the "Loggia del Consiglio" and the Domus Nova in Piazza dei Signori ("Lords' Square").
During the Austrian domination the bastions, the Arsenal, Palazzo barbieri and the monumental neoclassic graveyard were built.
But you cannot say to have been in Verona, if you have not visited the famous Juliet's house in Via Cappello and her balcony.