Verona, Italy

Verona on the River Adige in Venito, northern Italy, is famous as the location for the Shakespeare play Romeo & Juliet. Of course the play was fictional but there’s still a balcony here that popular myth say was Juliet’s. It attracts the hordes & is easily the city’s most popular attraction. I passed it & the crowds by today as I was scooting around what was the undoubted highlight of the UNESCO World Heritage listed central Verona for me – the city’s collection of stunning churches. According to the pamphlet I had with me, the historical churches of Verona offer the following.

And in a country full of churches that’s saying something.

Church of Saint Anastasia

Inside the Gothic Church of Saint Anastasia, Verona’s largest church & built between 1290 & 1481. I visited 4 churches in total today and this, the first of the 4 I visited, was my favourite. Alters, chapels, & statues galore, not to mention a fresco heaven including a few masterpieces by artists I’d never heard of before (Pisanello & Altichiero anyone). Verona (), Veneto, northern Italy. March 17, 2014

The interior of the Church of Saint Anastasia in Verona, Italy. March 17, 2014.

Piazza Delle Erbe

Piazza Delle Erbe, originally the site of a Roman forum and now the lively heart of Verona & lined by some of its most sumptuous buildings. Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. March 17, 2014

Stalls on Piazza Erbe, Verona, Italy. March 17, 2014.

The Whale Bone hanging from Arco della Costa in Verona. In situ for over 1000 years, the whale bone hanging from Arco della Costa just off Piazza Delle Erbe will hang where it is, so says legend, until such time as someone who has never told a lie walks beneath it. Kings & Popes have walked under it in the past and it’s still hanging. Yes, we’re all sinners. Verona, Italy. March 17, 2014.

The Arena

An enormous, spectacular Roman amphitheatre, crumbling on the outside but still functioning today. It was erected in the 1st Century AD in an elliptical shape, and is the world’s third-largest amphitheatre to survive from antiquity. Much of the outer ring was damaged during an earthquake in 1117 but the inner part is still intact.

Arena di Verona in Verona, Italy. March 17, 2014.

Plaza Bra

Late afternoon shadows on Plaza Bra as seen from The Arena in Verona, Italy. March 17, 2014.

The exterior of The Arena from across Plaza Bra in Verona, Italy. March 17, 2014.

Venice Tomorrow
I’ll be returning to Venice tomorrow, a short train ride east of here. I’ve been to Venice before, way back in 2007. I didn’t really like the city all that much – it was/is busy & expensive. However, there’s no doubt the city is a photographers paradise, somewhere that was made to be photographed. It, & to a lesser degree Prague, Czech Republic – are the two primary reasons I’m on this little 3-week European jaunt of mine – the last time I visited both I wasn’t the photographer I seem to think I am now. So needless to say I’m looking forward to getting reacquainted with both European gems & the photographic adventure ahead, if nothing else.