Entries with Porta tag

To The Castelvecchio

After the Arena and the Teatro Romano, Verona’s most impressive Roman remnant is the Porta dei Borsari (on the junction of Via Diaz and Corso Porta Borsari), a structure which was as great an influence on the city’s Renaissance architects as the amphitheatre. Now reduced to a monumental screen straddling the road, it used to be Verona’s largest Roman gate; the inscription dates it at 265, but it’s almost certainly older than that.

Some way down Corso Cavour, which starts at the Porta dei Borsari, stands the Arco dei Gavi , a first-century Roman triumphal arch which was re-built in 1930 after Napoleon’s troops tore down the original. This is your best vantage point from which to admire the Ponte Scaligero ; built by Cangrande II between 1355 and 1375. It was the turn of the German army to indulge in wanton destruction this time: they blew up the bridge in 1945, but the salvaged material was used for reconstruction. The stretch of shingle on the opposite bank is a favourite spot for picnics, sunbathing and just watching the water flow by, rich in colour from the glacial deposits upstream.

The fortress from which the bridge springs, the Castelvecchio (Tues-Sun 9am-6.30pm; L6000/¬3.10), was commissioned by Cangrande II at around the same time and became the stronghold for Verona’s subsequent rulers. Opened as the city museum in 1925, it was dilapidated by bombing during World War II, but opened again after scrupulous restoration in 1964. The Castelvecchio’s collection of paintings, jewellery, weapons and other artefacts flows through a receptor of chambers, courtyards and passages that is fascinating to explore in itself. The equestrian figure Cangrande I , removed from his tomb, is strikingly displayed on an outdoor pedestal; his expression is disconcerting at close range, the simpleton’s grin being difficult to reconcile with the image of the ruthless warlord. Outstanding among the paintings are two works by Jacopo Bellini, two Madonna s by Giovanni Bellini, another Madonna by Pisanello, Veronese’s Descent from the Cross , a Tintoretto Nativity , a Lotto portrait and works by Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo. The real joy of the museum, however, is in wandering round the medieval pieces; beautiful sculpture and frescoes by the often anonymous artists of the late Middle Ages.

Category: Verona

About Verona

With its wealth of Roman sites and streets of pink-hued medieval buildings, the easy-going city of VERONA has more in the way of sights than any other place in the Veneto except Venice itself. Unlike Venice, though, it’s not a city overwhelmed by the tourist industry, important though that is to the local economy. Verona is the largest city of the mainland Veneto, its economic success largely due to its position at the crossing of the major routes from Germany and Austria to central Italy and from the west to Venice and Trieste.Verona’s initial development as a Roman settlement was similarly due to its straddling the main east-west and north-south lines of communication. A period of decline in the wake of the disintegration of the Roman Empire was followed by revival under the Ostrogoths, who in turn were succeeded by the Franks: Charlemagne’s son, Pepin, ruled his kingdom from here. By the twelfth century Verona had become a city-state, and in the following century approached the zenith of its independent existence with the rise of the Scaligers . Ruthless in the exercise of power, the Scaligers were at the same time energetic patrons of the arts, and many of Verona’s finest buildings date from their rule.

With the start of their dynasty a time of upheaval ensued, Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan emerging in control of the city. Absorption into the Venetian Empire came in 1405, and Verona was governed from Venice until the arrival of Napoleon. Verona’s history then shadowed that of Venice: a prolonged interlude of Austrian rule, brought to an end by the Unification of Italy in 1866

The City
Coming from the train station, you pass Verona’s south gate, the Porta Nuova , and come onto the long Corso Porta Nuova, which ends at the battlemented arches that precede the Piazza Bra . Here stands the mightiest of Verona’s Roman monuments, the Arena . Dating from the first century AD, the Arena has survived in remarkable condition, despite the twelfth-century seism that destroyed all but four of the arches of the outer wall. The interior (Tues-Sun 9am-6pm, closes 3.30pm during the opera season, usually July-Aug; L6000/¬3.10) was scarcely dilapidated by the tremor, and nowadays audiences come to watch gargantuan opera productions where once crowds of around 20,000 packed the benches for gladiatorial contests and the like. Originally measuring 152m by 123m overall, and thus the third largest of all Roman amphitheatres, the Arena is still an awesome sight – and as an added treat offers a tremendous urban panorama from the topmost of the 44 pink marble tiers.

Category: Verona

Domine Quo Vadis And San Callisto

Via Appia Antica begins at the Porta San Sebastiano , built in the fifth century, a little way on from which the church of Domine Quo Vadis signals the start of the catacomb stretch of road. Legend has this as the place where St Peter saw Christ while fleeing from certain death in Rome and asked “Where goest thou, Lord?”, to which Christ replied that he was going to be crucified once more, leading Peter to turn around and accept his fate. Continuing on for a kilometre or so you reach the catacombs of San Callisto (Jan-Oct & Dec Thurs-Tues 8.30am-noon & 2.30-5pm; L8000). All third-century popes (of whom San Callisto was one) are buried here in the papal crypt, and the site features some well-preserved seventh- and eighth-century frescoes.

Category: Rome

Scala Santa And Chapel Of San Lorenzo

There are more ancient remains on the other side of the basilica of San Giovanni, on Piazza di Porta San Giovanni, foremost of which is the Scala Santa (daily 6.15am-12.15pm & 3.30-6.30pm), claimed to be the staircase from Pontius Pilate’s house down which Christ walked after his trial. The 28 steps are fortified by boards, and the only way you’re allowed to climb them is on your knees, which pilgrims do regularly – although there is also a staircase to the side for the less penitent. At the top, the chapel of San Lorenzo holds an ancient (sixth- or seventh-century) painting of Christ said to be the work of an angel, hence its study – acheiropoeton, or “not done by human hands”.

Category: Rome

Porta Portese

The obvious way to approach Trastevere is to cross over from Isola Tiberina or from the pedestrian Ponte Sisto at the end of Via Giulia, both of which leave you five minutes from the heart of the neighbourhood. On a Sunday it’s worth travel over the Ponte Sublicio to Porta Portese, from which the Porta Portese flea market stretches down Via Portuense to Trastevere train station in a congested medley of antiques, old motor spares, cheap clothing, trendy clothing and assorted junk. Haggling is the rule, and keep a good hold of your notecase or purse. Come primeval if you want to buy, or even move – most of the bargains have gone by 10am, by which time the crush of people can be intense.

Category: Rome

San Paolo Fuori Le Mura

Daily 7:30am-6:30pm. Two kilometres or so south of the Porta San Paolo, the basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura is one of the five patriarchal basilicas of Rome, occupying the supposed site of St Paul’s tomb, where he was ordered to rest after being beheaded at Tre Fontane. Of the five, this basilica has probably fared the least well over the years. It was apparently once the grandest of them all, connected to the Aurelian Wall by a mile-long colonnade prefabricated up of 800 marble columns, but a ninth-century cloth by the Saracens and a devastating fire in 1823 (a couple of cack-handed roofers spilt burning tar, almost entirely destroying the church) means that the church you see now is largely a nineteenth-century reconstruction, sited in what is these days a rather unenticing neighbourhood.

For all that, it’s a very successful if somewhat clinical rehash of the former church, succeeding where St Peter’s tries (but finally fails) by impressing with sheer size and grandeur: whether you enter by way of the cloisters or the west door, it’s impossible not to be awed by the space of the building inside, its crowds of columns topped by round-arched arcading. Also, of all the basilicas of Rome, this one gives you the feel of what an ancient Roman basilica must have been like: the huge barn-like structure, its clerestory windows and roof beams supported by enormous columns, the only natural light provided by the alabaster window panes, all combine to lend a powerful and trusty sense of occasion.

Some parts of the building did survive the fire. In the south transept, the paschal candlestick is a remarkable piece of Romanesque carving, supported by half-human beasts and rising through entwined tendrils and strangely human limbs and bodies to scenes from Christ’s life, the figures crowding in together as if for a photocall; it’s inscribed by its makers, Nicolo di Angelo and Pietro Bassalletto. The bronze aisle doors were also rescued from the old basilica and date from 1070, as was the thirteenth-century tabernacle by Arnolfo di Cambio, under which a slab from the time of Constantine, inscribed “Paolo Apostolo Mort”, is supposed to lie – although it’s hard to get a look at this. The arch crossways the apse is original too, embellished with mosaics donated by the Byzantine queen Galla Placidia in the sixth century that show Christ giving a blessing, angels, the symbols of the Gospels, and Ss Peter and Paul. There’s also the cloister, just behind here – probably Rome’s finest piece of Cosmatesque work, its spiralling, mosaic-encrusted columns enclosing a peaceful rose garden. Just off here, the Relics Chapel houses a dustily kept set of semi-august relics, and the Pinacoteca shows engravings depicting San Paolo before and after the fire

Category: Rome

Baths Of Caracalla

Viale Terme di Caracalla 52. Summer Mon & Sun 9am-1pm, Tues-Sat 9am-6pm; winter Mon & Sun 9am-1pm, Tues-Sat 9am-3pm; L8000. Across the far side of Piazza di Porta Capena, beyond the large UN Food and Agriculture building, the Baths of Caracalla , on the right on the corner of Via Antonina, are much better preserved, and they give a far better sense of the scale and monumentality of Roman structure than most of the extant ruins in the city – so much so that Shelley was moved to write Prometheus Unbound here in 1819. The baths are no more than a shell now, but the walls still rise to very nearly their original height. There are many fragments of mosaics – none spectacular, but quite a few bright and well preserved – and it’s cushy to discern a floor plan. As for Caracalla, he was one of Rome’s worst and shortest-lived rulers, and it’s no wonder there’s nothing else in the city built by him.

The baths have until recently been used for occasional opera performances during the summer (one of Mussolini’s better ideas), but these have largely stopped due to alteration to the site. Watch out for their re-emergence, though – it’s a thrilling and inexpensive way to see the baths at their most atmospheric

Category: Rome