Verona’s Basilica of St. Zeno is a medieval masterpiece

Most visitors to Verona head to the world famous Juliet's balcony or the city’s ancient Roman arena, where performers still put together theatre shows and opera in a perfectly preserved first century monument. But Catholic visitors to the “city of love” don’t want to miss the 4th-century Basilica of St. Zeno. 

Originally built in the 4th century and completed in the 12th century, the Romanesque church was erected on the site of the grave of St. Zeno from Verona, one of the city’s most important bishops and Verona’s patron saint. Later additions and expansions reflect the varied history of the city of Romeo and Juliet, which stood at the crossroads between Rome and northern provinces of the Roman empire. 

For example, some columns dating to the 5th or 6th century present Byzantine motifs while other elements, like the magnificent rose window completed by Verenose artist Brioloto de Balneo, are typical of Romanesque style.

The main entrance of the basilica features a bronze door decorated with 73 panels depicting scenes from the Old and New testament created across different periods by various founders. On top of it, an engraving depicts St. Zeno as he blesses Verona’s coats of arms. 

The church’s cloister, completed in 1123, follows the typical medieval cloister structure with thin columns and Romanesque capitals. The church’s interior is structured around three naves and two rows of pillars and columns — 10 on each side — topped with Corinthian capitals. 

The basilica’s walls are decorated with frescoes painted over a span of more than two centuries, including an altarpiece by Andrea Mantegna, featuring the Madonna with the Child as well as chapters from the life of Jesus, considered a masterpiece of Italian Renaissance painting. 

Just above Mantegna’s masterpiece lies another artistic gem. Shaped like a ship’s hull and adorned with geometric decorations, St. Zeno’s trefoiled-arched wooden ceiling is considered a signature piece of medieval art. On the left-side of the nave, a statue known to locals as “laughing St. Zeno” depicts the beloved city’s patron with a charming smile. 

Over the course of the centuries, many artists and poets were mesmerized by Verona’s basilica, including Dante Alighieri, who featured the Basilica of St. Zeno in the 18th canto of the Purgatorio as the place where one of the souls now found in purgatory used to serve as an abbot. 

The church is open to visitors Monday to Friday between 10:00 a.m. and 5 p.m. and on Saturday between 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.