During my first visit to Vicenza in 2017 I became acquainted with the local saints Felix and Fortunatus. The two brothers were depicted on a large polyptych by Lorenzo Veneziano in the Duomo of the city. Not much is known about them, but it is usually assumed that the brothers…
Big, bigger, Santa Giustina. This enormous basilica on the southern edge of Padova’s historical centre will make a lasting impression on just about every visitor. The church adjoins the Prato della Valle, a large piazza in the shape of an ellipse where in Antiquity the theatre of Roman Patavium must…
The Scuola del Santo (also known as the Scoletta, ‘little school’) is the seat of the Archconfraternity of Saint Antonius of Padova. Saint Antonius (or Anthony) died in 1231, and according to tradition the confraternity was founded a couple of years after he was canonised in 1232. The first written…
The formal name of Padova’s Duomo is the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. In an older post I called the Duomo “a bit of a disappointment”. Having revisited the building in July of 2022, I still stand by that judgment. Fact is, the Duomo is just a bit boring. The…
The oratory of San Giorgio in Padova is often compared to the famous Cappella degli Scrovegni in the same city. It is indeed hard not to see similarities. Visitors enter a small private chapel with a sky blue barrel vault, radiant stars and impressive frescoes on the walls. The frescoes…
The small oratory of San Michele is all that remains of a church of which the history may go back all the way to the sixth century. The church was largely demolished in the nineteenth century, but a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and featuring colourful fourteenth-century frescoes by…
The Reggia Carrarese is the complex of buildings from which members of the Da Carrara family governed the city of Padova in the fourteenth century. Unfortunately virtually nothing is left of this complex. In 1405 Venetian troops took Padova, causing the Carraresi to lose power (and in a couple of…
The charming town of Lazise attracts a lot of people who love water sports. The town can be crowded, but not to a point where it becomes unpleasant, at least not in our experience. We certainly did not see the “tsunami of tourists” that our travel guide predicted. The historical…
The town of Soave gave its name to a famous white wine from the Veneto, but this was not the reason for us to go there. After visiting Custoza, we continued to Soave, some twenty kilometres east of Verona, to see the historical centre of the town. This centre is…
During the Italian wars of independence in the nineteenth century, two battles were fought at the town of Custoza, just southwest of Verona. Twice an Italian army fought against Austrian forces and twice the Italians suffered a defeat. In other countries this may have been a sound reason to forget…
It was, of course, slightly ironic that we visited the sanctuary of the Madonna della Corona in the middle of the Coronavirus disease pandemic. However, the word ‘corona’ has no relation whatsoever with the disease, nor with the crown of thorns that Jesus Christ was forced to wear (for which…
The charming town of Torri del Benaco lies just north of the town of Garda, after which Lake Garda takes its name. The Latin name of Lake Garda is Lacus Benacus, and that explains the name Torri del Benaco. During the Roman era and the Early Middle Ages, the town…
During our visit to the splendid church of Santa Maria in Organo in the summer of 2021 we met an exceptionally kind and erudite guide who gave us a tour of the building for free. The man only spoke Italian, but when that became too technical for us, he could…
There is a lot to see in the Duomo complex of Verona. Apart from the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the complex comprises the baptistery of San Giovanni in Fonte, the church of Sant’Elena and the cloister of the canons (Chiostro dei Canonici). The Duomo has the most intelligent staff…
I must say our visit to the church of San Giorgio in Braida was particularly pleasant. While visitors need to buy tickets to visit the top churches in Verona, this is not the case with the San Giorgio. It should, however, be stressed that the fact that a visit is…
The famous Romanesque church of San Zeno is located quite far outside Verona’s city centre. There is a sound historical explanation for this. In Antiquity there was a Roman cemetery here, where somewhere between 372 and 380 the eighth bishop of the city was buried. Little is certain about the…
Remarkably, the large basilica of Santa Anastasia in Verona is not dedicated to the eponymous saint. Instead the immense church is dedicated to Saint Peter of Verona, also known as Saint Peter Martyr. This Dominican preacher, inquisitor and persecutor of heretics was murdered by a hired assassin in 1252 and…
The famous Castelvecchio (‘old castle’) of Verona was built in a bend of the river Adige. An equally famous bridge, the Ponte di Castelvecchio or Ponte Scaligero, connects it to the other river bank. Both the castle and the bridge were constructed by Cangrande II della Scala, lord of the…
The beautiful Romanesque church of San Lorenzo is almost completely surrounded by other buildings. People taking a stroll along the Corso Cavour might very well pass by the church without noticing it. Only a Gothic gate topped by a statue of Saint Lawrence with his gridiron and a sign with…
The splendid church of San Fermo Maggiore is also known as the church of Santi Fermo e Rustico. Fermus (or Firmus) and Rusticus were according to tradition Christians from Bergamo who were martyred in Verona in the year 304. The execution supposedly took place on the shores of the river…