|
Red-roofed and pastel-shaded, Verona sits in a bend of the river Adige as it winds its way south from the Alps. On the edge of the mountains and the cusp of the plain, the city likes to think of itself as both the beginning and the distillation of the real Italy. At the Italian crossroads of the north-south route from the Brenner Pass to Rome and the east-west Milan- Venice road, it is easy to see the reasons for the city’s long-standing strategic importance. The self- importance is harder to explain, but is due in part to an extraordinary architectural, artistic, agricultural and financial wealth. Apart from Rome itself, Verona is Italy’s best-preserved Roman city, with a Roman amphitheatre, a Roman bridge, Roman gates and a Roman theatre all providing prominent symbols. Atop these ancient foundations is a richly decorated and well preserved Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance city, with spectacular frescoed churches and houses. The antiquity is given an opulent sheen by a well-dressed 21st-century population who have, in the main, done very nicely out of wine, opera, European integration and a select brand of tourism.
|
