We the Italians June 28, 2015 - 63 | Page 16

th # 63 • JUNE 28 , 2015 Lamberti Towers - the portico of the Loggia del Consiglio catches the eye; it is here where 16th-Century political life took place, while the Palazzo di Cansignorio and Palazzo del Comune (or della Ragione) were the seats of military, judicial and administrative power. Nearby lie the Scaliger Arches, in the same-named piazza, and some of the most suggestive views of the city, including glimpses of the monumental tombs of the Lords of Verona. The entire city of Verona is truly spectacular, and the same goes for the churches. Some of the most important are the Adige; it symbolizes the Me- City Museum of Art. Gothic Church of St. Anastasia, dieval power of the Scaliger Family, to whom the realization The palazzi of Verona narrate the Church of San Fermo Magof the crenellated Scaliger Bri- its long history of wealth and giore (formed by two buildings stacked one on top of the dge is attributed. Castelvec- power. other), and the Renaissance chio, edified in the mid-1300s, was the abode of the Cangran- In Piazza dei Signori - whi- Church of San Giorgio in Braide della Scala; today it is the ch sits under the dominating da. Finally, the Verona of Shakespeare and the “star-crossed lovers” is legend all over the world, and lives indefinitely through the places made famous in the play, Romeo and Juliet. Yet the original literary work was created by Luigi da Porto, a writer from Vicenza, in the 1500s; it eventually circulated around Europe, reaching England. Thus it was the Bard who rendered it the immortal story that it is today, allowing Verona to rest as one of the most admired and visited places in the world. 16 | WE THE ITALIANS www.wetheitalians.com