La Funicolare | Verona East Side: Alla scoperta di San Giovanni in Valle

Duration: 2 hours (approximately)

Lenght: 3.4 kilometres

Difficulty: easy

Points of interest of the itinerary: Funicular of Castel San Pietro | Castel San Pietro | Iron Fountain | Piazza Cisterna | Church of San Giovanni in Valle | Borgo Tascherio | Via Scala Santa | Giardino Giusti | Porta Organa | Church of Santa Maria in Organo | Piazza Isolo

A unique itinerary that takes as a reference point the Funicular of Castel San Pietro to lead you to discover Veronetta area and the true jewels of the culture, history and architecture of our city. An urban trekking path that runs along the magnificent walls of Verona and allows you to admire the city of Verona with its precious gems.

The Funicular is located near Ponte Pietra, between the Roman Theatre and the Church of Santo Stefano. It was inaugurated in 1941 and the operation was initially divided into 11 daily rides. The service of the funicular was suspended in 1944 due to the Second World War. After years of abandonment, in 1975 the funicular station became the host of Teatro Laboratorio, an avant-garde theatre company founded by Ezio Maria Caserta. Reopened in June 2017, the new funicular is designed as an inclined lift, with a back and forth system and a 25-passenger cabin. The 159-metre track takes 90 seconds at a maximum speed of 2 m/s and can carry 800 passengers per hour. The covered difference in altitude is 55 metres with a gradine of 37%.

Starting from the Funicular of Castel San Pietro, in via Madonna del Terraglio, you will reach in just over a minute the panoramic point from which our journey begins: the terrace on the top of the hill that housed the first Roman settlements in the territory. Alternatively, you can reach the terrace by walking along the 231 steps staircase, offering its spectators a suggestive view of the beautiful Verona, with its bell towers and the architecture of the past. Splendid setting that embraces the most beautiful view of the city of love, the gentle and winding flow of the Adige river flowing under Ponte Pietra, right at the foot of the hill.

After enjoying this breathtaking view, walk for a few metres along the ridge of the hill behind the Castle. You will then arrive at a crossroads where you will go down a gravel road that will take you directly to the Iron Fountain and discover the district of San Giovanni in Valle.

In one of the most peculiar urban areas of the municipality of Verona, characterized like all the rest of the hill by the presence of numerous sources of drinking water, there is the Iron Fountain, which supplied the village itself and was dedicated to the worship of the goddess Feronia or Fers, divinity of the Renaissance. The nearby church was also the site of baptisms in ancient times. We proceed southwards where we find Piazza Cisterna, a square similar to a Venetian campiello with an octagonal cistern in the centre, which served as a flood for water. It remained in operation until 1889, and was originally intended to supply water to the nuns of the nearby cloistered convent of Santa Chiara.

A few steps separate the square from the Church of San Giovanni in Valle, part of the circuit of Verona Minor Hierusalem. An original church built in the Lombard period (7th-8th century), was rebuilt in Romanesque style with tuff following the earthquake of 1117. The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, who baptised Jesus in the Jordan River.

Next to the ancient “Corte del Duca”, owned by the convent of the Poor Clares, we find the current Borgo Tascherio alley, which owes its name to the figure of the tasquerius, the person who collected the taxes paid by all those who entered the city from the nearby Porta Organa. Continuing along Via Scala Santa we reach the famous staircase, with the stations of the “Via Crucis” placed in relief along the external wall of the “Instituto Buoni Fanciulli di Don Giovanni Calabria”, which leads to San Zeno in Monte, from where you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the city.

Descending from Via San Zeno in Monte, the majestic Giardino Giusti opens up in front of us. Created at the end of 1400, the garden is today an urban complex of great interest and beauty in the structure given by Count Agostino Giusti, Knight of the Venetian Republic and Gentleman of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. In addition to the collections of flowers, important Roman artefacts and Goethe’s great Cypress, the garden preserves all the original 16th century features: fountains, acoustic caves, pergulls, Italian-style hunchbacks, mythological statues and a labyrinth of difficult and small dimensions, among the oldest in Europe.

Not far away is the Porta Organa, a single fork door dating back to the thirteenth century characterized by a wide round arch, with ancient origins but unclear. Following the Interrato di Acqua Morta to our right we reach the Church of S. Maria in Organo. In the church of Benedictine foundation, not to be missed the sight of the precious wooden inlays of the choir and the cupboards of the sacristy, made between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by Frair Giovanni da Verona. A marvel made visitable thanks to the commitment of volunteers of Verona Minor Hierusalem.

To our right is instead the end point of the itinerary, the teeming Piazza Isolo. Recently renovated with the construction of the underground car park and the monument to the Veronese missionary Daniele Comboni, the square rises on the island of San Tommaso, an alluvial island divided in two by a small canal. The area became the key location in the city for the river trade, for the mills and for the sawmills. The flood of the Adige River in 1882 led the municipal authorities to demolish some valuable buildings to make way for the walls, thus finally burying the secondary branch of the Adige.

You can find the information material for your visit at the Tourist Office located in via degli Alpini, 9.

The project is conceived and promoted by the Municipality of Verona and Associazione Quartiere Attivo in collaboration with AGEC and the Tourist Office of Verona.

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