10/17 Thursday
Mores sites on our Verona Card for
today. First stop, St. Fermo’s Basilica. This is in a decidedly upscale
neighborhood not far from the Coliseum. The church is really beautiful, with a
red and white stripe pattern in the marble walls. The design is Roman, not
Gothic, and it’s rare to see a church kept in its original form despite later
renovations. The walls and arches are decorated with soft frescos that date
from the 14th and 15th centuries. The ceiling is the
wooded beam “ship’s keel” style. Interestingly, there’s an art exhibition in
the center of the nave, with works from book illustrators from around the
world, responding to a theme of life and flight. The information is all in
Italian, though, so that’s all the interpretation I can give. The art is
beautiful and creative.
Below the nave, there is a second,
earlier church, more intimate, with dozens of elegant columns supporting the
roman arch ceiling. The remains of the original 12th century frescos
are still visible.
After our visit, we stop for a
cappuccino in a little neighborhood café. There are no tourists here, just working people stopping for a plate of homemade spaghetti.
It’s a real mom and pop joint, with mom making the sauce in a closet-sized
kitchen, while her daughter whips up the espressos. We sit, browse the
newspaper, listen to the Italian chatter, and wish we could have a big plate of
spaghetti too.
Instead, we amble on to our next
site, the Basilica of St. Zeno, described as one of the best preserved examples
of Romanesque architecture in Northern Italy. It’s beautiful. Saint Zeno is the
patron of Verona, and the church holds his crypt. He’s often referred to as The
Fisherman, casting for souls to bring into the church. There’s a really funny
statue of him in his fancy bishop’s garb, holding a fishing pole with a nice
little perch on the line, with a totally satisfied smile on his face.
We continue on to the Miniscalchi-Erizzo
Museum, the former palace of an aristocratic family of Verona. The museum is
listed as “reduced fee” on our Verona Card, and we’re charged a 5 Euro entry.
The price is actually worthwhile to us for the opportunity to wander through
the mansion unescorted, completely by ourselves. It’s just fun. The rooms hold
a certain idiosyncratic collection of medieval armor, small B.C. bronze figure
sculptures and assorted royal furnishings. I especially like the table service,
with each plate decorated with a beautifully natural painting of a different
type of bird. I would like that for myself. Perhaps IKEA will pick up the
design.
1 Video Included
Verona Saints Fermo and Zeno
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