Note: I originally wrote this post in 2017 for my old blog. I have edited and updated it for posting here.
What to read in Verona
- Williams Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and/or The Taming of the Shrew: Three plays proving that both tragedy and comedy can play out against the backdrop of this heartbreakingly beautiful city
- Paradiso by Dante Alighieri: Sure you could read the more popular Inferno, but why not read about Paradise while you’re there?
- Travels in Italy by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: An account of the great German writer’s travels in Italy including Verona, where he is captivated by a particular cypress tree
Fair Verona
For non-Italians, Verona is probably best known as the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This city in northern Italy is also the setting of two of Shakespeare’s other plays, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Taming of the Shrew. And what a city to serve as the setting of such stories. When I visited I discovered how breathtakingly beautiful it is, which was even more so than I was expecting considering it’s not as renowned for its beauty as Florence or Venice. Shakespeare was right — fair Verona, indeed.
Verona has other literary connections besides Shakespeare, who ironically may have never even traveled there. But Dante Alighieri spent considerable time in the city. After he was exiled from Florence, Dante resided in Verona for a time under the patronage of Cangrande I, the city’s podestà or chief magistrate, who was a great patron of the arts. And the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited Verona in 1786, which he recounts in his Travels in Italy. He was particularly enchanted by a huge, ancient cypress tree within the Giardino Giusti, which came to be known as “the Goethe cypress.” On my visit to Verona in 2017 I too was lucky enough to stand in front of this tree, which was already hundreds of years old during Goethe’s time and almost 600 years old when I visited. Three years later, a heavy hailstorm ripped through Verona and almost completely destroyed the tree. I was lucky to have visited when I did.
About Verona
Verona is located within the Veneto region in Italy, the same region as Venice. It is one of the most visited cities in Italy, and its role as the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has attracted many travelers all from all over the world. But other major factors also contribute to its appeal — after all, the city and its historic center are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Verona was an important city within the Roman Empire due to its location at the intersection of important roads, and this Roman history is immediately noticeable in Verona’s most popular attraction, the Arena di Verona, which played a similar role to the Colosseum in Rome.
Nowadays, Verona is one of Italy’s richest cities and, as I stated, very popular with travelers. What I found intriguing and beautiful about Verona, as many others do, was the combination of both Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages that you can see in the city’s architecture. I knew Verona would be lovely, but I was surprised at exactly how stunning it was. Verona is as worthy of a visit as any of Italy’s most famous cities.
