The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto

in a room off the courtyard of the Palazzo del Capitano, alongside smaller
finds from the excavation of this area.
A right turn at the entrance to the square leads into the courtyard known
as the Corte Mercato Vecchio, dominated by a beautiful fifteenth-century
staircase carved in roseate marble which leads to the Sala della Ragione. For a
dizzying view, a lift ascends the Torre dei Lamberti, though masochists can
take the steps – all 368 of them (Mon 1.30–7pm, Tues–Sun 9.30am–7.30pm;
e3 by lift, e2 on foot, or Verona Card).
The Arche Scaligere
Passing under the arch linking the Palazzo degli Scaligeri to the Palazzo del
Capitano, you come to the little twelfth-century Romanesque church of
Santa Maria Antica (daily 7.30am–12.30pm & 3.30–7pm), in front of which
are ranged the Arche Scaligere, which are among the finest funerary monuments
in Italy. The elaborate Gothic tombs are now surrounded by wroughtiron
railings, but if you’ve visited the Torre dei Lamberti you can get into the
compound with the same ticket (open same times), and the Verona Card gives
access too.
Over the side entrance to the church, an equestrian statue of Cangrande I
(“Big Dog”; d.1329) grins on the summit of his tomb’s pyramidal roof; the
statue is a copy, the original being displayed in the Castelvecchio. In 2004 the
mummified body of Cangrande was removed from its sarcophagus and subjected
to an examination which established that he’d died from a huge dose of
digitalis (a drug derived from foxglove). It’s known that one of Cangrande’s
physicians was executed by his successor, Mastino II; it’s probable that the
ambitious Mastino, having had his uncle murdered by the doctor, quickly covered
his tracks by eliminating his henchman. The canopied tombs of the rest
of the della Scala clan are enclosed within a wrought-iron palisade decorated
with ladder motifs, the family emblem – scala means ladder. Mastino I (“Mastiff
”; d.1277), founder of the dynasty, is buried in the simple tomb against the
wall of the church; Mastino II (d.1351) is to the left of the entrance, opposite
the most florid of the tombs, that of Cansignorio (“Top Dog”; d.1375).
The unassuming tombs of the two who didn’t take canine names, Giovanni
(d.1359) and Bartolomeo (d.1304), are between Mastino II and Cansignorio.
Sant’Anastasia and San Pietro Martire
To the east of the Arche Scaligere, you can walk parallel to the Adige along
Via Sottoriva, where the majority of the houses date from the Middle Ages,
making this one of Verona’s most atmospheric areas. The street takes you
to Sant’Anastasia (March–Oct Mon–Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 1–6pm; Nov–Feb
Tues–Sat 10am–1pm & 1.30–4pm, Sun 1–5pm; e2.50 or biglietto unico/Verona
Card), Verona’s largest church. Started in 1290 and completed in 1481, it’s
mainly Gothic, with undertones of the Romanesque. The early fourteenthcentury
carvings of New Testament scenes around the doors are the most
arresting feature of its bare exterior; the interior’s highlight is Pisanello’s
delicately coloured fresco of St George and the Princess (above the chapel to
the right of the altar), a work in which the normally martial saint appears as
something of a dandy.
To the left of Sant’Anastasia’s facade is an eye-catching tomb, the free-standing
monument to Guglielmo di Castelbarco (1320) by Enrico di Rigino. To its
left, on one side of the little piazza fronting Sant’Anastasia, stands the lovely
church of San Pietro Martire, or San Giorgetto as it’s also known (Tues–Sat
10am–12.30pm & 4–7.30pm, and occasionally open for concerts), which has
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