Nightlife is varied, and genuinely goes on into the night, in contrast to Venice’s late-evening shutdown. Music and theatre are the dominant art forms in the cultural life of Verona. In July and August an opera festival takes place in the Arena , always featuring a no-expense-spared production of Aida . To get the best (or last-minute) seats, call in at the office on via Dietro Anfiteatro 6b, which opens late on performance nights; if you can’t make it in mortal you can now book by phone or online (tel 045.800.5151, www.arena.it ). Big rock events crop up on the Arena’s calendar too. A season of ballet and of Shakespeare and other dramatists in Italian is the principal summer fare at the Teatro Romano . Some of the Teatro events are free; for the rest, cheapskates who don’t mind inferior acoustics can park themselves on the steps going up the hill alongside the theatre. The box office at the Teatro Romano also sells tickets for the Arena and vice versa.From October to May English-language films are shown every Tuesday at the Cinema Stimate in Piazza Cittadella. The disco scene is much more lively than in Venice, with venues coming and going; look in the local paper, L’Arena (there’s a copy in every bar), to find out where they are and what days they’re open. The Spettacoli section of L’Arena is the best source of up-to-date information on entertainment in Verona.
Entries with July tag
Zitelle And The Redentore
The first vaporetto stop after San Giorgio Maggiore is close to the tiny church of the Zitelle , which was built in 1582-86 from plans worked out some years early by Palladio, albeit for a different site. In the eighteenth century the convent attached to the church was renowned for the delicacy of the alter produced by the young girls who lived in its hostel. The Casa de Maria , to the right of the Zitelle, is an inventive reworking of Venetian Gothic, built as a studio by the painter Mario de Maria in 1910-13. Its diaper-pattern brickwork, derived from that of the Palazzo Ducale, is the only example of its kind in Venetian domestic building. The neigbouring building is somewhat less inventive but very welcome nonetheless – it’s a new housing development, one of several such schemes to revitalize the island.
The Zitelle is open for Mass Sun 10am-noon.
La Giudecca’s main monument, beyond the tug-boats’ mooring and the youth hostel (once a granary), is the Franciscan church of Il Redentore , designed by Palladio in 1577. In 1575-76 Venice suffered an outbreak of plague which killed nearly fifty thousand people – virtually a third of the city’s population. The Redentore was built by the Senate in thanks for Venice’s deliverance, and every year until the downfall of the Republic the doge and his senators attended a Mass here to renew their declaration of gratitude, travel to the church over a pontoon bridge from the Záttere. The Festa del Redentore has remained a major event on the Venetian calendar – celebrated on the third Sunday of July, it’s marked by a general procession over the temporary bridge and a huge fireworks display on the previous evening. A large number of people spend the night out on the water, partying with friends on board their boats.
The Redentore is open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm (closed Sun in July & Aug); L3000/1.54.
Palladio’s commission called for a church to which there would be three distinct components: a choir for the monks to whom the church was entrusted, a tribune around the altar for the dignitaries of the city, and a nave with side chapels for the humbler worshippers. The architect’s scheme, in which the tribune forms a circular chapel which opens into the nave and blends into the choir through a curved screen of columns, is the most sophisticated of his church projects, as well as the one most directly evolved from the structure of ancient Rome (the Imperial baths in particular). Unfortunately, though the interior has recently been cleaned, an appreciation of its subtleties is difficult, as a rope prevents visitors going beyond the nave. In the side-chapels you’ll find a couple of pictures by Francesco Bassano and an Ascension by Tintoretto and his assistants, but the best paintings in the church – including a John the Baptist by Jacopo Bassano , a Baptism of Christ by Paolo Veronese and Madonna with Child and Angels by Alvise Vivarini – are in the sacristy, which is usually closed on Saturday and Sunday. The Vivarini is accompanied by a strange room of eighteenth-century wax heads of illustrious Franciscans in various attitudes of agony and ecstasy, arranged in glass cases all round the room.
Average Temperature And Rainfall in Venice
Temp Rainfall ®C ®F mm in January 3.8 38 58 2 April 12.6 54 77 3 July 23.6 74 37 1 October 15.1 59 66 3
The Siena Palio
The Siena Palio ( www.comune.siena.it/palioprova ) is the most spectacular festival event in Italy: a twice-yearly bareback horse race around the Campo, preceded by days of preparation, medieval pageantry and chicanery. Only ten of the contrade can take part in any one race; these are chosen by lot, and their horses and jockeys are also assigned at random. The only rule is that riders cannot interfere with apiece others’ reins. Otherwise, anything goes: apiece contrada has a traditional rival, and ensuring that it loses is as important as winning oneself. Jockeys may be bribed to throw the race or whip a rival or a rival’s horse; contrade have been known to drug horses and even to ambush a jockey on his way to the race. This is primarily a show for the Sienese; for visitors, in fact, the undercurrent of brutality and the bragging, days-long celebration of victory can be quite a shock. The race has been held since at least the thirteenth century. Originally it followed a circuit through the town, but since the sixteenth century it has consisted of three laps of the Campo , around a track covered with sand and padded with mattresses to minimize injury to riders and horses (though this does occur, and the Palio is a passionate subject for animal-rights supporters). There are normally two Palios a year, with the following build-up:
June 29/August 13 : The year’s horses are presented in the morning at the town hall and drawn by lot. At 7.15pm the first trial race is held in the Campo.
June 30/August 14 : Further trial races at 9am and 7.45pm.
July 1/August 15 : Two more trial races at 9am and 7.45pm, followed by a street banquet in apiece of the contrade .
July 2/August 16 : The day of the Palio opens with a final trial at 9am. In the primeval afternoon apiece contrada takes its horse to be blessed in its church (it’s a good omen if the horse shits). At around 5pm the town hall bell begins to ring and riders and comparse – equerries, ensigns, pages and drummers in medieval costume – proceed to the Campo for a display of flag-twirling and other pageantry. The race itself begins at 7.45pm on July 2, or 7pm on August 16, and lasts little more than ninety seconds. There’s no PA system to tell you what’s going on. At the start (in the northwest corner of the Campo) all the horses except one are penned between two ropes; the free one charges the group from behind, when its rivals least expect it, and the race is on. It’s a hectic and violent spectacle; a horse that throws its rider is still eligible to win. The jockeys don’t stop at the finishing line but keep going at top speed out of the Campo, pursued by a frenzied mass of supporters. The palio – a silk flag – is subsequently presented to the winner.
There are viciously expensive stands for dignitaries and the rich (booked months ahead), but most spectators crowd for free into the centre of the Campo. For the best view , you need to have found a position on the inner rail by 2pm (ideally at the start/finish line), but be prepared to stand your ground; people keep pouring in right up until a few minutes before the race, and the swell of the crowd can be quite overwhelming. Toilets, shade and refreshments are minimal, and you won’t be healthy to leave the Campo until at least 8.30pm. Hotel rooms are extremely difficult to find, and if you haven’t booked, reckon on either staying up all night or travelling in from a neighbouring town. The races are shown live on national TV and repeated endlessly all evening.
All year round, Cinema Moderno on Piazza Tolomei screens a twenty-minute film explaining the history and drama of the race, dubbed into various languages (Mon-Sat, in English on the half-hour 9.30am-5.30pm; L10,000/¬5.16).
Nightlife And Entertainment
You’ll spot posters for city events at Piazza Matteotti, and the Siena supplement of La Nazione newspaper has details of the day’s concerts and films. You can catch live bands at L’Officina bar, Piazza del Sale 3a, and at the disco-bar Al Cambio , Via di Pantaneto 48, but otherwise your only chances are at the low-key Siena Jazz in the last week of July and the gigs organized for the PDS-Communist Party Festa dell’Unitá throughout the summer. Siena has prestigious classical concerts throughout the year. The Accademia Chigiana is the driving force, staging the Estate Musicale Chigiana cycle all summer, and the Settimana Musicale Senese in late July, often featuring a major opera production. Venues vary from the duomo and Sant’Agostino to out-of-town locations such as the atmospheric ruined abbey of San Galgano. Tickets start at L15,000/¬7.75, bookable through the tourist office or from mid-July onwards in mortal at the Accademia Chigiana, Via di Città 89 (daily 3-7pm; tel 0577.46.152, www.chigiana.it ).
Galleria Colonna
Via della Pilotta 17. Jan-July & Sept-Dec Sat 9am-1pm; L10,000. A short stroll south from the Fontana di Trevi brings you to the Galleria Colonna , part of the Palazzo Colonna complex and, although outranked by many of the other Roman palatial collections, worth forty minutes or so if you happen by when it’s open, if only for the chandelier-decked Great Hall where most of the paintings are displayed. Best on the whole is the gallery’s collection of landscapes by Dughet (Poussin’s brother-in-law), but other works that stand out are Carracci’s primeval – and unusually spontaneous – Bean Eater (though this attribution has since been questioned), a Narcissus by Tintoretto and a Portrait of a Venetian Gentleman caught in supremely confident pose by Veronese.
