CHURCHES
AND MONASTERIES
We have kept these to last as they alone compreise an interesting itinerary.
We can start from the Basilica di S. Zeno, standing inside the Scaliger
and Venetian Walls, But originally completely outside the town area.
The Abbey and Church complex dates from the V and XIII Centuries, and has been repeatedly
added to and restored. The Bronze Doors in the main porch with forty-eight
Biblical plaques (X-XI Centuries) and the Triptych by Andrea Mantegna are Just two
items of exceprional interest.
On the eastern side of the recently-restored, magnificent
square stands the Church of S. Procolo, a building which summaries a
thousand years of Christianity in Verona from the IV-V to the XIV Centuries. Other
important convents and religious sites near S. Zeno include S. Zeno in Oratorio,
to the side of Castelvecchio; the Franciscan convent of S. Bernardino and
its splendid works of art.
Moving to the other side of the Corso Porta Nuova, there
is the Church of SS. Trinita', the remains of the ancient convent of reformed
Benedictines. The Benedictine Abbey of S. Fermo has already been mentioned:
the lower church is a complete gallery of XI Century fresco art. The oldest Benedictine
Convent in Verona, on the right bank of the River Adige, is S. Maria in Organo:
the present-day church holds some of Europe's most famouse inlaid choir stalls, the work
of Fra Giovanni, a Reinaissance artist praised by Vasari.
These are joined by the complex
of basilicas in the Duomo area: S. Maria Matricolare, S. Giovanni in Fonte,
and S. Elena. The Basilica of S. Anastasia is a splendid example of
Domenican art and for five centuries the "hunchvacks" just inside the door have supported
two red marble holy water stoups. Standing on the Roman Decumanus, in the area of the
ancient cemetery, are the Sacellum of SS. Teuteria and Tosca (V Century) and of SS Nazaro
and Celso - collected today for the greater part in the Fresco Museum at the Tomb
of Juliet: fine examples of an art-form which spread out from Verona to the valleys of the
Alto-Adige and north to the furthest borders; and the churches of SS. Apostoli and
S. Lorenzo, which once again link Veronese art with the rest of Europe at the same
time as highlighting connections with Provence and Catalan ideas. The European leaning is
also highlighted in the Province.
