Description
Piazza dei Signori, also called Piazza Dante, is Verona's square of power: an elegant courtyard a few steps from Piazza delle Erbe, surrounded by Scaliger and Venetian palaces joined by arches and loggias. Here what happened in the city was decided, and today it is a quiet corner, with the statue of Dante in the middle.
Unlike the nearby Piazza delle Erbe, nothing was sold here. The square arose in the Middle Ages from the growth of the palaces of power, above all from the Scaliger era, almost like the inner courtyard of a single royal palace. The Scaligers were lords of Verona from 1260 to 1387.
The monument to Dante, in the center since 1865, is three meters tall, in Carrara marble, the work of Ugo Zannoni. It was erected for the six hundredth anniversary of the poet's birth, to defy Austrian censorship. Dante, exiled from Florence, found his first refuge at the court of Cangrande and for a time was hosted in a palace on the square.
Around him, every facade tells of an era. The 12th-century Palazzo della Ragione, with the Scala della Ragione in red Veronese marble in the courtyard of the Mercato Vecchio: a 15th-century Gothic staircase with two flights, which you reach under an arch.
The Palazzo di Cansignorio keeps the original medieval tower, while the rest of the facade was redone by Sanmicheli in the 16th century. The Porta dei Bombardieri, from 1687, is famous. Beneath the palace there is also a mouth in the wall where citizens could slip anonymous denunciations against other citizens.
The Palazzo del Podestà has the typical Ghibelline battlements of the Scaligers: in 1404 the Venetians opened a new portal in it and set the lion of Saint Mark above it. Next to it opens the Renaissance Loggia del Consiglio, with statues of illustrious ancient Veronese on the roof.
The small Romanesque church of Santa Maria Antica, beloved by the Scaligers, sits half-hidden among the palaces. In its courtyard are the Scaliger Tombs, and above the portal the sarcophagus of Cangrande I.
The Domus Nova, already mentioned in the mid-12th century, was the seat of the podestà and the lesser councils, then from the 15th century the home of the Venetian judges. Much of the building collapsed in 1511 and was rebuilt only more than a century later.
Don't miss
• The statue of Dante.
• The Scala della Ragione.
• The Loggia del Consiglio.
• The Scaliger Tombs.
Did you know?
• Before Dante, in the center of the square stood a mid-17th-century fountain by Pietro Tedesco: it was judged inadequate for such a monumental square and demolished.
• The statue of Dante echoes a similar monument by Enrico Pazzi in Florence, in Piazza Santa Croce.
Unlike the nearby Piazza delle Erbe, nothing was sold here. The square arose in the Middle Ages from the growth of the palaces of power, above all from the Scaliger era, almost like the inner courtyard of a single royal palace. The Scaligers were lords of Verona from 1260 to 1387.
The monument to Dante, in the center since 1865, is three meters tall, in Carrara marble, the work of Ugo Zannoni. It was erected for the six hundredth anniversary of the poet's birth, to defy Austrian censorship. Dante, exiled from Florence, found his first refuge at the court of Cangrande and for a time was hosted in a palace on the square.
Around him, every facade tells of an era. The 12th-century Palazzo della Ragione, with the Scala della Ragione in red Veronese marble in the courtyard of the Mercato Vecchio: a 15th-century Gothic staircase with two flights, which you reach under an arch.
The Palazzo di Cansignorio keeps the original medieval tower, while the rest of the facade was redone by Sanmicheli in the 16th century. The Porta dei Bombardieri, from 1687, is famous. Beneath the palace there is also a mouth in the wall where citizens could slip anonymous denunciations against other citizens.
The Palazzo del Podestà has the typical Ghibelline battlements of the Scaligers: in 1404 the Venetians opened a new portal in it and set the lion of Saint Mark above it. Next to it opens the Renaissance Loggia del Consiglio, with statues of illustrious ancient Veronese on the roof.
The small Romanesque church of Santa Maria Antica, beloved by the Scaligers, sits half-hidden among the palaces. In its courtyard are the Scaliger Tombs, and above the portal the sarcophagus of Cangrande I.
The Domus Nova, already mentioned in the mid-12th century, was the seat of the podestà and the lesser councils, then from the 15th century the home of the Venetian judges. Much of the building collapsed in 1511 and was rebuilt only more than a century later.
Don't miss
• The statue of Dante.
• The Scala della Ragione.
• The Loggia del Consiglio.
• The Scaliger Tombs.
Did you know?
• Before Dante, in the center of the square stood a mid-17th-century fountain by Pietro Tedesco: it was judged inadequate for such a monumental square and demolished.
• The statue of Dante echoes a similar monument by Enrico Pazzi in Florence, in Piazza Santa Croce.