Verona, Italy: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Verona is an Italian city where Roman monuments, medieval churches, Renaissance palaces and nineteenth-century fortifications form a remarkably layered urban landscape. The historic centre brings many of its most important sights together, while the hills and outskirts reveal the defensive system that once surrounded the city. Neywo offers a free audio guide for Verona with 223 narrated places.

What to See in Verona

Verona Arena and Piazza Bra

The Verona Arena, or Arena di Verona, is an ancient Roman amphitheatre at the heart of the city and one of its most recognizable landmarks. About 32 metres high, it has a seating area roughly 138 metres long and 110 metres wide. Its three concentric walls were designed around the needs of the building, although the outer wall has almost entirely disappeared.

Systematic restoration work began in the sixteenth century and helped preserve the monument’s essential form. The Arena remains a rare place to experience Roman architecture in a building that has continued to serve the public for centuries. It stands in Piazza Bra, a major urban space that also reflects Verona’s later architectural history.

Verona Cathedral

Verona Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and also known as Santa Maria Matricolare, is the principal Catholic church of the city and the seat of the Diocese of Verona. Its site has a much older Christian history: two early Christian churches once stood here before an earthquake destroyed them in 1117.

The present Romanesque cathedral was consecrated on September 13, 1187. Later renovation campaigns changed aspects of the building, but its original plan remained unchanged. The name Santa Maria Matricolare recalls the early Christian church that once occupied the site.

Sant’Anastasia

Known formally as the Church of San Pietro da Verona in Santa Anastasia, Sant’Anastasia is Verona’s largest and most representative church. This Gothic basilica stands near Ponte Pietra, at a point where important road and river routes once converged.

Its unfinished façade leads into a vast interior divided into three naves by monumental cylindrical pillars. Built entirely in brick, the church introduced important features to Verona’s religious architecture, including a broad transept, four chapels around the presbytery and a new type of bell tower.

The Dominican friars received the land in 1260, and construction began in 1290. The essential structures were ready by the third decade of the fourteenth century, although the building was considered complete only in the 1440s. It was consecrated on October 22, 1471.

Basilica of San Zeno

The Basilica of San Zeno, also called San Zeno Maggiore or San Zenone, is regarded as a masterpiece of medieval architecture. It remains an important Catholic place of worship in the San Zeno district and stands on a site occupied by at least five earlier religious buildings.

Tradition connects the origins of the church with a building over the tomb of Saint Zeno of Verona, who died sometime between 372 and 380. Much of the present Romanesque basilica emerged from a major renewal begun around the end of the eleventh century and the start of the twelfth. Work was interrupted by the earthquake of 1117, but much of the present church had been completed by about 1138. Later changes did not fundamentally alter its layout, allowing its medieval character to survive.

Bevilacqua Palace

Along Corso Cavour, Bevilacqua Palace is one of Verona’s notable Renaissance buildings. The palace was commissioned by the Bevilacqua family and designed in the sixteenth century by Michele Sanmicheli, a celebrated Renaissance architect from Verona. One source dates the project to around 1530.

The palace is also included in the wider architectural story around Castelvecchio, where Verona’s Renaissance buildings stand alongside Roman remains and medieval structures.

Castel San Pietro

Castel San Pietro stands high above Verona on San Pietro Hill. Its elevated position provides a broad panoramic view of the city and makes it one of Verona’s favorite viewpoints for visitors and local residents.

The present military building was designed by the Austrian military engineering directorate stationed in Verona and constructed between 1852 and 1858. Its original name, Aerarialcasernen Castel San Pietro, reflected its beginnings as a state military barracks. The site also preserves sections of an earlier defensive wall associated with a castle dating from the end of the fourteenth century.

Verona’s nineteenth-century forts

Verona’s defensive landscape extends well beyond the historic centre. The hills and plain around the city contain a network of forts built during the nineteenth century, including the following sites:

• Forte Biondella, originally known as Werk Biondella, was built in 1838 as part of the hill forts and advanced plain forts created between 1837 and 1843. Its construction was directed by Franz von Scholl.
• Forte San Mattia, originally Werk San Mattia, was completed in 1843. Franz von Scholl and his pupil Michael von Maly directed its construction.
• Forte Santa Caterina was built between 1850 and 1852 on a natural escarpment near the Adige. It formed part of Verona’s first entrenched camp on the plain, developed between 1848 and 1856.
• Forte San Zeno, originally Werk Radetzky, was built between 1848 and 1856. Much of the fort disappeared, but one smaller tower with exposed brick facing remains.
• Forte Azzano, originally Werk Neu Wratislaw, was built between 1860 and 1861 and belonged to Verona’s second fortified field on the plain.
• Forte Dossobuono, also known as Forte Gisella, was built between 1860 and 1861 as part of the second fortified field of the plain.
• Forte Lugagnano, originally Werk Kronprinz Rudolf or Crown Prince Rudolf Fort, belonged to the second fortified camp in the plain, established between 1859 and 1866.
• Forte Preara, also known as Forte Montorio, was built between 1859 and 1860 as part of the second fortified camp.
• Forte Tomba, originally Werk Stadion, was built between 1860 and 1861. Much of its original form disappeared after its earthworks and ditch were leveled in the early 1950s, and later road and interchange works further affected the site.

Together, these forts show how Verona’s military landscape continued to evolve long after the Roman and medieval periods. Their positions connected the plain, the city walls, the Adige and the hill forts around the city.

Explore Verona with a self-guided audio guide

A Verona self-guided walking tour lets you explore the city independently while hearing its history at the places themselves. Neywo has five walking tours, one bus route and one bike route in Verona, with narration available in 11 languages.

The walks include:

• From the Arena to the Forum: Roman Verona and Its Squares — 1.89 km, 101 minutes and 11 narrated stops.
• The Scaligeri: Verona’s Dynasty of Dante’s Patron — 1.64 km, 94 minutes and 11 stops.
• Fortress, Arch and Bridge: Castelvecchio and Sanmicheli’s Verona — 1.23 km, 80 minutes and 10 stops.
• San Zeno: The Romanesque Heart of Verona — 1.48 km, 64 minutes and 8 stops.
• Gates, Saints and Museums: Eastern Verona — 2.11 km, 70 minutes and 8 stops.
• Line 31 Through Verona’s Gates: San Zeno to Porta Vescovo — a 6.4 km bus route lasting 27 minutes, with 10 stops.
• Riding the Walls: Porta Palio to Porta Vescovo — a 3.9 km bike route lasting 20 minutes, with 8 stops.

Download Neywo and explore Verona at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, with no group and no schedule. After Verona, continue discovering the wider region through Veneto, or plan another stop in Vicenza, Venice or Padua.