Verona Romana

Let’s take a stroll with Gavia Maxima, a member of the Gens Gavia, one of the wealthiest and most influential families of the Roman Verona; and let’s walk through the regular orthogonal street grid that distinguishes the town.

Now, let’s imagine we are back in the late 1st century A.D. when Verona was one of the most important centres of Northern Italy, well connected to the main road network and, most of all, when it was an elegant and imposing town due to its building planning the remains of which are still visible.

We meet Gavia at the Arco dei Gavi (Gavi Arch) in the Via Postumia (present-day Corso Cavour), a very important road artery that links Genoa’s and Aquileia’s seaports, stretching through the whole Northern Italy.
Today the monument stands next to Castelvecchio, that is not its original position, and a little treasure can be discovered at its foot: on the ancient stones, corroded by time, it is possible to observe the tracks of ancient carts as the permanent marks of the Roman history of Verona.

We don’t actually know the exact family tie between Gavia and the builders of the Arch: all we know about her is that she gave the town a considerable amount of money for the building of an aqueduct – this can be verified at the end of the walk by reading an epigraph on the exterior wall of a house in Via Rosa.

Leaving the Arch behind us our guide takes us through the Porta Borsari (Borsari Gate) that stands at one of the main entrances of the town. The gate is part of a 940-meter-long city-wall that would be reinforced and enlarged in the 3rd century A.D. by the Emperor Gallieno.

Beyond the gate we find ourselves in the main road artery of the Roman Verona, the Decumano Massimo (Decumanus Maximus), sourrounded by the crowd heading for the beating heart of the town, namely the Foro (Roman Forum – present-day Piazza delle Erbe – Herbs’ Square): this is a vast area where the Capitolium, the Roman Curia, the Basilica and numerous tabernae (indoor markets) were at that time.

Only a few remains of the Foro and of the Capitoline complex are still visible today. Gavia invites us to discover a few ruins of buildings adjoining the Foro, close to the International Centre of Photography Scavi Scaligeri where, on the occasion of photographic exhibitions, it is possible to recall part of the suggestive history of Verona by following an ancient road that starts right from a mosaic of the Roman period.

The Foro is crowded with people also coming from the Cardo Massimo (Cardo Maximus) (present-day Via Cappello) where we can admire many important historic buildings that are used for commercial, administrative, political and religious purposes.

Gavia helps us move through the crowded streets and leads us to the Roman Theatre on the other bank of the river Adige, across the Ponte Pietra (Pons Marmoreus – Stone Bridge).
We can also see the Ponte Postumio (Pons Postumius) a sort of “natural” continuation of the Via Postumia only a few traces of which are left today.

The Ponte Postumio serves also as an aqueduct, as the big lead-pipes on view at the entrance of the nearby Archaeological Museum show: the pipes bring the fresh water of Montorio to the town.

The Roman Theatre comes into sight with a majestic and scenographic effect: indeed it extends in consecutive terracing from the river Adige bank up to the top of Saint Peter’s hill where it culminates in a temple! Today it is still an impressive visit because of its monumental archaeological remains, its peculiar position as well as its interesting museum complex.
Gavia’s history, indeed Gavia’s family history, intertwines also with the history of this place: on the little pillars of the arched loggia (a roofed open gallery)   crowning the theatre, there are some inscriptions mentioning important family-names of that period among whom is the Gavii’s name: these inscriptions are likely to have indicated the seats occupied by important families and permanently reserved for them for the shows.

Our visit continues inside the Archaeological Museum, full of interesting relics, and then we plan to spend the evening attending a drama performance at the Roman Theatre on the historic river bank, under an enchanting starry summer night sky. Discover the Verona Summer Theatre Festival programme.

Gavia’s day draws to an end so we go back across the Ponte Pietra, heading for the Porta Leoni (Lions Gate) the other monumental entrance to the town of which we can see only part of the façade today. From there we take a glance at the excavation site down below that completes the picture we have been forming about the Roman Verona Gavia lived in.

Our last destination is the Arena (Amphitheatre) that once was outside the city-walls. This awesome amphitheatre can host about 30.000 spectators: Gavia tells us about the gladiators’ fights when they competed against one another but also against wild animals brought from Africa.
Fortunately, nothing remains of the rawness and boisterous  clamor of those shows and we can enjoy a peacefull visit to the monument, as well as an unforgettable musical soirée during the summer.

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