We headed to the shopping streets of Via Mazzini, where the expensive brand-name stores are located, and the Corso Porta Borsari, where the more regular shops are lined up. We didn’t really buy anything. We just checked out what was available and passed by the costumed street performers around the corner.
One thing I noticed was the shiny, coppery-rose marble on the pavements of the most expensive streets. Our guide said this is called Rosso di Verona, a locally-quarried marble. Due to its abundance, most of Verona’s structures feature this natural stone. In fact, Verona has been dubbed, “The Marble City” because of this.
Since ancient times, Verona has supplied outlying cities, like Venice, with this building material that made it the richest city in northern Italy in those days. I was reminded of a comedy film that I saw in the 1970s about this billionaire who lived in a house of gold. He bathed in a golden tub, ate from a golden plate, slept in gold-woven sheets, and gave away gold coins every time someone made him happy…all because he had too much gold and didn’t know what to do with them all. The Veronese probably had the same dilemma. ”Hey, what do we do with all these spare marbles? Hmmm, let’s just put them on the pavement.” Can you imagine that?
Also remarkable is the unique character of the building facades all over Verona. Most of them are finished in terracotta and decorated with frescoes in bright, lively colours. Apparently, this was a status symbol for the Veronese Renaissance families. Having their walls painted by the masters of the arts was a way of flaunting their wealth and conveying their taste for the finer things in life. They also feature shuttered windows and wrought iron balconies adorned with flower boxes. No wonder Shakespeare chose this as the setting for his love story. The city exuded such an air of romanticism.
Photo Credits:
viator.com, Claconvr (Wikipedia), nagibmoretti (Trip Advisor), Vasily V (Trip Advisor), arrivalguides.com, Fabio Becchelli (Wikimedia Commons), Lo Scaligero (Wikipedia), Didier Descouens (Wikipedia), saradf (Trip Advisor), pri.org, theculturetrip.com, oriana.italy (Flicker), getyourguide.com, aguideinverona.com
Comentarios