The best way to explore the historic center of Verona is with a local guide. With our Discover Verona package you have the chance to take a walking tour with one of the guides of Ways Tours, who will show you around the city, adding anecdotes and curiosities.

We anticipate some of them and invite you to seize the opportunity as soon as possible!

Monument to Roberto Tiberio Barbarani

When you visit Piazza delle Erbe, the famous Madonna Verona fountain is not the only monument that deserves your attention.

On the southern side of the square you will notice another statue. Placed in 2004, it is a bronze depicting the Veronese dialect poet Roberto Tiberio Barbarani, who made Verona the main source of inspiration for his works. His favorite references were the historic center of the city, the Lungadige, but also Lake Garda. In his verses, characterized by a strongly evocative and melancholic tone, Barbarani enhances the local dialect.

The author of the statue is the Veronese sculptor Novello Finotti and the inscription on the front reads: Voria cantar Verona (lit. I’d love to sing about Verona).

La bala de Fracastoro

On the arch that links Piazza dei Signori, also known as Piazza Dante, to Via delle Fogge stands a statue: it is Girolamo Fracastoro, a famous Veronese doctor, astronomer and poet of the 16th century. The statue portrays him holding a sphere, which symbolizes the world.

An interesting urban legend, rooted in the culture and history of the city, revolves around this sculpture. According to an ancient Veronese tradition, the sphere – called bala in dialect – will fall on the head of the first honest man who passes under the arch.

The tone of the legend is clearly sarcastic, as that area was once the city’s center of justice, home to the courthouse and other buildings frequented by people of power. In other words, the popular legend reflects the widespread perception of corruption and lack of honesty in the institutions.

Roman remains in the Benetton store

In 2013, the renovation work of the building on Via Mazzini that now houses a Benetton store brought to light some Roman remains: part of a domus from the imperial age, a mosaic with geometric decorations in excellent condition and parts of the city walls.

The finds have been kept in situ and can be visited during the store’s opening hours. During the walking tour of Verona, the local guide will not miss the opportunity to take you here and illustrate many other curiosities and anecdotes.

The Gavi Arch

A few steps from the Castelvecchio Museum, in the small square of the same name, stands the Gavi Arch. It was built around the middle of the 1st century to celebrate the Gavia family and is located along the ancient Via Postumia. It is a rare example in Roman architecture of an honorary and monumental arch for private use.

In addition to its historical value, this structure boasts two noteworthy features. First of all, it is one of the few monuments of the period that bears the signature of its creator, Lucio Vitruvio Cerdone, on the left side of the facade, facing the Adige river. The second curiosity concerns the grooves engraved on the paving stones, which follow the direction of the arch. These are not random signs but traces designed to facilitate the circulation of carts, like a sort of track.