Palazzo della Ragione

Palazzo della Ragione, located between beautiful Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza dei Signori, has always been the pulsating heart of Verona.

It is a corner of the city in which various buildings have, over the centuries, been juxtaposed to create a monumental complex that has symbolized, and still symbolizes, the ancient centre.

After various renovations, this majestic twelfth-century building has been made available to the public once more.

Not only can its architectural and monumental aspects be fully enjoyed, but it has also become the centre of Veronese culture by hosting the Achille Forti gallery of modern art with its collection of visual arts of the 19th and 20th century.

With this project the Verona city council has made newly available to the city, its inhabitants, and an international public a place that is emblematic of the city and its history.

This complex of buildings, whose history, intertwined with that of city life, reaches down the centuries, has today been renewed and given back its rightful place as an organic and harmonic whole, a single body of which the elements composing it are united together: the Palazzo, a symbol of city power; the Torre dei Lamberti, which rises up as an emblem of temporal power; the decorated treasure house of the Cappella dei Notai; and the Scala della Ragione, the heart of the Mercato Vecchio courtyard.

The Lamberti tower, built in the twelfth century and so being the same age as the first stages of the Palazzo's construction, rises to 84 metres high and offers a fascinating view of the city and its surroundings; for the Veronese it is a familiar landmark and a visual reference point for the landscape and the city panorama.

The courtyard, surrounded by a portico with arches supported by rustic ashlar pillars, is characterized by the colours of alternate courses of bricks and tuff stone. Inside the wide area of the Mercato Vecchio courtyard is the Scala della Ragione, a late gothic jewel built from red Veronese marble which leads the public to the great portal of the first floor, now the new, central access point to the Palazzo's gallery of modern art.

This stairway allows a new internal itinerary and, above all, restores the centrality that Camillo Boito had conferred on it at the end of the nineteenth century, restoring it to the ideal role that it originally had.

The choice of the Palazzo as the venue for the gallery should be considered a genuine restitution of art to Palazzo della Ragione: in fact in the nineteenth century the first floor was home to the Cignaroli academy of fine art, as is also born out by the fresco, an allegory of Verona among the Arts, by Giovanni Bevilacqua on the porch at the top of the stairway.

FAQ

Why is it called Palazzo della Ragione?
Because in this place the judges recognised to the citizens the right of their complaints.

What hosts now the Palace?
Currently the palace is the location of the Modern Art Gallery "Achille Forti".

Is it possible to get married in the Palace?
The marriages take place in the Notaries Chapel, a small renaissance chapel entirely decorated.

Is the monument accessible to people with disabilities?
The monument is completely accessible.

Is it possible to access to the monument with animals?
It is not possible to enter the monument with animals, except in cases of guide dogs with muzzle accompanying a disable guest.