Verona Essay -- Geography Italy Essays

Verona In Northern Italy, along the Adige River and at the foot of the Lessini Mountains, lies the ancient city of Verona. It is a city filled with ecclesiastical monuments, as well as numerous ancient and historical sites, many dating to the period of the Roman Empire.[i] According to one source, people have inhabited Verona for the past 300,000 years, and archeologists have found numerous stone artifacts of an earlier time.[ii] An ancient tribe founded the city, probably the Euganei or Raeti tribe, but the city was later occupied by the Gallic Cenomani. In 89 B.C., Verona became a Roman colony. Due to its geographical location, Verona flourished as it emerged as an industrial, political, and commercial center. The port in Verona provided access for trade to Northern Europe, and as a result, it became a developed urban city.[iii] The Roman Arena amphitheater is probably the most significant site in Verona. Dating back to the 1st century B.C., it is now a vital theater for the opera. At the time, the Arena was built outside of the city walls. More than 30,000 spectators would travel to Verona to watch the ludii, or shows and games, in the Arena. The most popular of the ludii were the gladiator fights, often times against lions. Originally, the faà »ze was white and pink limestone from Valpolicella. During the Middles Ages, the theater lost its functionality, and people began to use it as a quarry for other buildings. It was not until the Renaissance that people began to intervene in order to return the Arena to its original purpose. There are other Roman monuments of the 1st century B.C. in Verona, such as the Roman Theater and the Arco dei Gavi, or the Gavi Arch. The Roman Theater, originally built during the Augustan age,... ....encyclopedia.com/html/S/Scala-C1a.aspScala.> ?Excursions.? Lago di garda magazine. (12 December 2003). ?History: della Scala Epoch.? Castelvecchio Museum, city museum. 24 November 2003. ?History of Verona.? The World Factbook. 25 November 2003.? Kren, Emil and Daniel Marx. ?Verona. Web Gallery of Art. 25 November 2003. ?Michele Sanmicheli, Architecture, Biographies.? Columbia Electronic Press, 2003.? Tierney, John. ?Verona is for Lovers.? Forbes. 13 March 1995: 6. ?Verona, Italy.? Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 17 November 2003.? ?