Gavi's Arch

On the right side of Castelvecchio, in a small green area overlooking the Adige river, stands this construction of the first century. d.C., of the Roman architect Lucio Vitruvio Cerdone. The author's signature on the monument, a very rare phenomenon in the classical age, is one of the aspects that made the arch famous. It was built to celebrate one of the most important families of Roman Verona, the Gavia Gens.

The arch was originally located on the Via Postumia, not far from the current Torre dell'Orologio di Castelvecchio (the original location is recognizable by the signaling, on the pavement, of the position of the base of the pillars). In the Middle Ages, the arch, between the Scaliger walls and the Tower, was used as a city gate. In the 16th century, buildings were built against it and some shops settled there.

In 1805, during the Napoleonic occupation, the French decided to demolish it, because they believed the arch to get in the way of trafficking (especially military). The stones of the monument were first moved to Piazza Cittadella, then they were transferred to the Arena. It was reassembled in 1932 with the original blocks.

In local white limestone, it has a four-sided structure, the two main ones facing the Postumia street. The arch is a single archway framed by Corinthian columns (whose bases are decorated with plant bas-reliefs) and a triangular tympanum; the internal ceiling is coffered and has a Medusa head.

In the niches on the main pediments there were statues representing some members of the Gavi family, with their inscriptions (now lost). Under the arch was a stretch of Roman road, in black basalt, which bears signs of the passage of wagons.